The Adventures of Captain Oats
by CaptainOats2TheRescue
Summary: Seth Cohen's trials and tribulations of growing up in Orange County...SS
1. Loneliness Knows My Name

**A/N: SethCentric. His life b4 Ryan gets adopted. AU as he slowly tries to win Summer's heart**

**Chapter 1**

Loneliness Knows My Name 

Friday night. To the average teenager in California, it meant freedom from school and responsibilities, but most importantly, the chance to get trashed at a Newport party. To Seth Cohen however, it meant staying home alone with Captain Oats and reading comics. Nobody talked to him at school and nobody attempted to.

When he woke up bright early Friday morning, he began his usual routine of begging his parents to let him miss skip school. This of course never worked once. His parents always assumed that one day, the kids at Harbor would open up to Seth and he'd become the typical model student.

"Please! I'm begging you. You gotta let me stay home." Seth pleaded. He looked over at his mother, Kirsten, with puppy dog eyes. She nearly gave into Seth's pleas until Sandy cut in.

"No your going to school just like the rest of the kids your age" Sandy said. " And no ifs, ands or buts about it." Seth turned and headed back up to his room with a look of sadness spread all over his face. This always broke Kirsten's heart when she'd see or hear about her son's struggles in school. Sandy of course, being the strong and confident type, always reassured her that it was just a phase or he'd sum it all up with " It's just highschool"

Seth made his way toward the door. More like stumbled towards the door. The only thing in his mind was that today was in fact Friday, and he'd have 2 days of peace and bliss.

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"Oh My God! Coop guess what!" Summer screamed.

"What is it this time Sum…?" Marissa feigned interest.

" Way to show support your friend Coop" Summer snarled but shrugged it off and continued " You know Brad from the water polo team, well he just asked me out to the party at Holly's!"

"This is like the best day ever!! I've been dreaming of this day since, like grade 5!" Summer squealed. 

"Congrats at least one person is happy today" Marissa mumbled. Summer knew that she irritated Marissa with her constant rambling about Brad and her dreams. Especially since Marissa had been on a downward spiral since her breakup with Luke. But Summer really didn't give a crap. Marissa had too many insecurities more anyone to cure. She was just a wreck and Summer didn't feel like being dragged down by her negativity.

"_God this is going to be the best day ever!"_ Summer thought to herself as she continued to daydream, snuggling up to Brad in the process.

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"_God this Is the worst day ever…"_ Seth thought as soon as he entered the front doors of Harbor. He looked up and saw that Summer was cozying up to her newest fling, Brad, and was all over him. His heart seemed to snap in half every time he saw someone all over Summer. His Summer. Well not technically because for her to be his, that would involve her knowing his name.

Seth walked the halls, still daydreaming of what it would be like to even be in Summer's presence for longer than 1 minute. He counted. He remembered that was the longest he'd ever been near her.

Flashback 

_Summer had been crying for what seemed like hours. She just hated her dad so much. How could he let her mother just walk out on them without even putting up a fight? She knew that it wasn't his fault but she still liked to leave it at that_

_She came storming out of the bathroom, the tears still were evidently there, when she ran straight into somebody. Causing their books to go flying everywhere_

_She looked around the halls. A big crowd had gathered around. She was embarrassed. Then she saw the look on the boy's face .Sam or Seth, no wait maybe it was Sid, anyways had slightest the smirk on his face and wouldn't it off._

"_Sorry I didn't see you there" She didn't feel the need to further explain herself because she felt it was his fault for even being within talking distance of her._

" _No it's alright. It's my fault, I should've been paying attention to where I was going" He answered. He quickly started blushing. Seth was going into a panic spiral. He started getting nauseous and his began to sweaty. Summer Roberts was actually talking to him._

_Just as she was about to answer, Luke, Nordlund and Brad walked over and stood by Summer._

"_Is this kid bothering you Summer." Nordlund snarled. Giving Seth the most fiercest glare ever._

_Summer just shrugged. " No I'm fine it was just an accident" She decided not to continue and walked away. She hated how Nordlund always tried to impress her, she knew that he had been pinning for her ever since elementary school. Leaving Seth to gather his books and stare in awe as she disappeared in the now huge crowd. As far as he was concerned, he was in heaven. He never even noticed the large group that gathered._

"_What are you doing still standing here geek?" Luke yelled._

_Seth was brought back down to earth with a fast and hard punch by Luke, which was followed with kicks from Nordlund and Brad preparing to grab his shoes so he could pee all over them._

_Now Seth's supposedly perfect day was ending with a bruising face and urine stained shoes._

_End Flashback_

He didn't care that Summer probably didn't even know what letter his name started with, because he knew that he was head-over heels in love with her. Even though he never received a reason to even think that, he still believed that there was so much more to her than what she displayed at school. He believed that on the inside, she was this smart, funny, witty and of course beautiful girl that was dying to come out. Instead of the uber bitch attitude she gave to everyone. And oh how he dreamed to be the reason that she'd come out of her shell and become an entirely new person.

He had been so self involved that he never even realized the big group of water polo players that he'd bumped into

"_Damn it!"_ was the first thing he thought when he got the groups attention. Seth hated having pain inflicted on himself for pointless reasons. Especially when this confrontation could have easily been avoided.

He stepped back nervously as Luke and the water polo team surrounded him. Then he spotted Summer back in the group with Holly and Marissa. He had a small chance to impress Summer and he didn't want to waste this.

"Who the hell do you think you are Cohen?" Luke snarled then began shoving Seth. " You can't just walk around here and think you own this school Queer!"

Oh what the hell. He knew there was no way to impress Summer. He knew the end result was going to be him getting his ass kicked anyways. So he decided he'd talk back to Luke and maybe get a laugh from Summer.

" Sorry Luke I wasn't watching where I was walking, I was just so interested in this book I'm reading" He held out the book. " Do you want to borrow it? Maybe you can add some more insults to your limited vocabulary. Your old ones are just starting to wear off." Seth snickered.

He looked behind an already fuming Luke and saw Summer. She and her friends were chuckling at Seth's witty remarks. Summer went even as far as slightly blushing at his comment. This brought the biggest grin to Seth's face, exposing his dimples for all to see. At least now he was going to get decked with a smile and much more self confidence.

Later that day

Seth walked in with the biggest grin on his mangled face. Sure he got the crap kicked out of him but Summer showed him the most emotion that she's ever showed in all his life that he'd known her. She showed all of this in one day. Seth practically floated through the kitchen and up to his room. Avoiding the concerns from his parents about his black eye and bruises.

For all he was concerned, he was on cloud 9. Sure he'd never did drugs in his fly but he imagined that this was what it felt like. That's the affect Summer Roberts had on him.

Seth sunk his head back into his pillow as he turned his Ipod on. He blasted the Death Cab For Cutie and just sat there in silence. With his now new found confidence, he managed to muster enough courage to attempt to go to that party at Holly's. Maybe even have a conversation with Summer.

"_Naw that was probably too fast. Take your battles as they come Cohen" _as he slowly slipped into a light sleep.

**Please read n tell me what you think. This is my 2nd one ever n just tell me if I should even bother to continue.**


	2. Blacking Out The Friction

Chapter 2 Blacking Out The Friction 

"I'm on her radar Oats!" Seth shouted at his lifeless plastic horse. " Do you think I should ask her about Tahiti?" Seth looked at his horse holding him close to his ears.

" Yeah that's what I thought too buddy.. We shouldn't rush into things" Seth beamed. He just could not wipe off the huge grin he'd had on his face ever since his Summer confrontation. Seth gently set the Captain down back on his bed and began to sort through clothes to wear tonight.

Even Sandy and Kirsten had noticed their son's surprisingly good mood.

Seth ran down the stairs joining his parents in the kitchen.

"So…You seem pretty out of your element tonight son" Sandy started as he continued to look through the take out containers.

Kirsten handed Seth a plate then finished Sandy's original question. "How was your day honey?" She still loved treating him like a baby. There was a time in Seth's life where he and his mother were extremely close, and he'd tell her everything. From his Summer sadness to his bullying problems.

" Why thank you mother…father. And as a matter a fact I'm having an even better day now that I know mom didn't cook." Seth teased. Sandy let out a small laugh, trying desperately to hide it from Kirsten.

" Ha Ha! It's just a laugh riot in here." She deadpanned. " So anyways getting to the point, how are you Seth?"

" This is the greatest day of my life!" Seth beamed with confidence " Summer Roberts. The Summer Roberts laughed at my witty comment. And to top it all off, she even blushed!"

Sandy just looked at Kirsten with a serious look, which was quickly gone. They couldn't help but smile as they saw their son ramble on and on about his day. This was so rare to see him openly talk about his life.

Meanwhile Seth was munching on his dinner at and increased speed

" Well now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get ready for my rendezvous with destiny!" And with that he sprinted up to his room. He had never in his life been so excited about a Newport party. He needed to be mentally prepared if he was going to attempt to even open his mouth in the presence of Summer Roberts.

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Summer decided to head over to Marissa's early than usual. For some unknown reason she felt the need to look stunning tonight for this typical party. She figured it had to be because she was finally getting her dream date with Brad

"Coop!" She yelled into the house, slightly taking a look around Cooper home.

"Up here Sum!" Marissa hollered right back.

"Oh hey how's it going Coop? You seemed to be in a better mood today" Summer said as she examined her room. There was no sign of alcohol so that was an improvement.

" Well it's going great, that's how it's going!" Marissa explained, sarcasm evident in her voice. " I will be better after tonight. That stupid ass-hat Luke moved on and I think he's dating Holly now"

Summer couldn't bear to see her best friend in such a bad mood. She motioned for Marissa to come over and she hugged her in a warm and comforting embrace.

" Well there's no better time than tonight to get over Luke" Summer exclaimed, trying to cheer up Marissa was harder than she thought. " There will be plenty of hot guys for us to scope out" she nudged her causing Marissa to show a slight smile.

"Yeah I guess your right"

"Of course I'm right!" She proudly explained "Now will you help me pick out something to wear, I wanna look real good for Brad tonight"

"Sure I will" Marissa hinted with pleading eyes " Does that mean a trip to South Coast is required?"

"Your damn right it is" Summer squealed as the girls headed out.

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" What if she doesn't notice me… What if she's still with Brad, although it seemed clear that they had no connection… not the type that me and her had in the 1 minute time frame right buddy?" Seth pleaded hopefully. Oh great now he was rambling. He only rambled when he was extremely nervous. That would explain why no one at Harbor could ever make out a damn word he said.

After spending nearly an hour deciding what to wear, Seth eventually just wore his chuck taylors, a pair of dark khaki pants and a vintage tee.

" _I look exactly the same as I always do."_ Seth pouted to himself. He now felt like crap. If he was going to get noticed, he knew he had to be something extraordinary for Summer to even glance at him.

He was glad that he was old enough to drive himself, because he felt the need for further prepping which involved the sounds of his Death Cab for Cutie CD.

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It took him about 20 minutes to finally get to Holly's, even though it was only a 10 minute walk. He stepped out of his car and was immediately greeted by…you guessed it …nobody. His head was spinning all over the place to even recognize the rejection he received from the Harbor students

It killed him that Summer had this affect on him. She made him get clammy and sweaty without ever acknowledging his existence. She made his heart skip beats and his stomach turn.

He slowly nonchalantly made his way over to the coolers where it was alcohol galore

He grabbed himself a beer even though he'd promised his parents he wouldn't drink. But he couldn't help it. He needed to shake his emotions of being at his first party and possibly engaging in his first conversation with Summer where it didn't lead to a beating.

Just then he heard a car door slam shut and heard some giggling. Then his eyes came across the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen……

Seth's POV OH. MY. GOD…She looked stunning. Once I think she couldn't be any more beautiful, she proves me wrong for what seemed like the billionth time. I smiled as I saw her blushing in her pink dress. That hugged every single curve on her body perfectly. She must've felt out of place being the only one formally dressed up but did that really matter? When she looked like that?!?! I just love how she wears those giant high heels. All I can do is laugh as he tries to make herself appear taller. I know she has insecurities about her height and feels that she shouldn't show anyone her flaws. But that's what attracted me to her in the first place. 

Maybe if I'm lucky she'll see me staring in awe and come talk to me…. A boy can dream can't he?

Summer's POV 

Damn it. Where the hell is Brad. He's not even here to react to my dress, which by the way, I spent 2 hours to pick. All I get his nerdboy over there drooling like madman. Arrgh when I find him I'll define all whole new meaning to " rage blackouts" This was supposed to be the one day where I would feel soo appreciated and I get shunned by everyone at the party except for the Ass-hat over there who won't stop staring at me. It's kinda starting to freak me out a bit. Although how could anyone be afraid of him when he's shows off those cute dimples….Stop it Summer! Cut it out now! Stick to your original plan and go unleash a rage blackout on Brad

_It's been nearly 1 hour and I still haven't found Brad. I'm starting to get worried… That kid is still adoring me from afar. Maybe I should go talk to him._

**Seth's POV**

Oh god. She's heading this way. Cool it Seth! Its just Summer. Your Summer. The one person who you'd die for before you let anything bad happen to her. She looks so gorgeous even though I can tell she's angry. It's probably about Brad. That Idiot. He's too stupid enough to realize what he's got.

_Snap out of Seth. Here she comes.. Brace yourself now. _

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Summer began making her way towards the boy who had been adoring her from afar, after running into a few friends along the way. She finally reached him then she realized Brad standing behind the proclaimed "Harbor Queer"

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Here's your shot. Just go for it.

"H-Hi Summer…" Seth blushed. He hated being weak around her. But he couldn't help it.

"Seth Cohen" blurted Seth as he stuck out his hand.

"EWW Who are you?" She teased. She couldn't bare to notice his once joyful and happy face turned to pure sadness within minutes.

Though it was evil teasing, Seth felt like a million daggers were stabbing his heart. He used to think that this girl was just putting on an act so that she wouldn't be lonely. He used to think that beneath her bitchy exterior, was a smart, confident, funny and all around good person. He felt his heart shatter in seconds.

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Summer made her way over to Brad and some of the water polo team. She walked up to join them

"Summer! There you are baby" Brad gave her a quick peck on the lips then continued "What the hell were you doing with Queer boy down there?"

" I don't know what the hell his problem is….. I mean EWW Random!" Summer exclaimed. Then the rest of the crowd joined in with laughter.

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Seth felt like all eyes were on him and just their stares were torture enough.

He had his heart shattered in half by the girl he once thought was just misunderstood

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By now everyone was enjoying the sight of a weeping Seth Cohen on the verge of tears. The water polo players already were bullying him to their fullest and the night was not even over.

Summer felt like horrible. She looked around her. Everywhere she looked she saw laughter and teasing. All in the direction of the sweetest kid she'd ever met. He didn't deserve this. It was all her fault. She couldn't bare to see him just sitting on the ground, on his knees in tears. She couldn't take much more of it so she grabbed Brad and dragged him out toward the beach. Her eyes were now filled with tears

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He had never thought that in a million years he could be this broken. This torn apart all because of that petite brunette. When she shunned him earlier, she did more than provoke laughter and teasing in everyone else..But she also destroyed probably one of the most sweetest, kindest and most down-to-earth guy in Newport. And she knew it.

**A/N: AHH that was reaall long. I kno it got cheesy at the end but it just came into my head so I decided to write down what was in my head lol…its lame!:p please r/r anyway**


	3. I Loved You All Along

A/N: I'll try not to make this one too long, but I might get carried away…lol. But enough rambling,…here it is…hope its not too bad. Song in the chapter is called: Look After you by The Fray

**Chapter 3**

I Loved You All Along 

It was a typical Friday night in Newport Beach, the sky covered in darkness, the waves hitting the beach like thunder. The Newport Youth were all scattered around to the various cliché highschool parties.

_If I don't say this now I will surely break  
As I'm leaving the one I want to take  
Forgive _

_the urgency but hurry up and wait  
My heart has started to separate_

This night was hell for a lone figure sitting in the dark, amidst all the laugher and frolicking from the Harbor students. Seth Cohen could not even comprehend all his emotions at that moment. He was trying to face facts that his childhood sweetheart (who never knew he existed) shunned him in the most awful way he had ever experienced. He didn't feel like wallowing in tears, because he liked to believe he wasn't that much of a loser. He decided to do the only thing he knew that could get him through this pain. He headed back toward the party and grabbed himself a beer.

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Summer rushed Brad out toward the beach and immediately began kissing him. She didn't know how to deal with the problems in her life, so she decided to partake in the oldest highschool ritual known to her. Making out.

She didn't want to think of the look on that boy's face when she publicly humiliated him. She knew that he kept his distance from everyone, and that this was the first time he actually made an attempt to come out of his shell. And she torched him so bad.

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_Oh, oh  
Be my baby  
Ohhhhhh  
Oh, oh  
Be my Baby  
I'll look after you   
And I'll look after you_

Seth almost hated himself for falling head over heels for that devil-hearted woman. Almost. He still saw her as the most beautiful girl he ever laid his eyes on. He had her all wrong his entire life. He was convinced from the beginning that her whole personality she put on at school was just an act. And that she was in fact a completely different person, a different person that Seth adored. Not the one that chewed him up, and then spit him out without even a hint of emotion.

_There now, steady love, so few come and don't go  
Will you won't you, be the one I'll always know  
When I'm losing my control, the city spins around  
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down_

By now, Seth was heavily hitting the bottle and was completely zoned out to the world. His heart was still shattered, but the alcohol slightly numbed the pain.

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Summer was still going at it with Brad back on the beach. She could smell the alcohol on his breath after every time they broke apart for air. He was beginning to slur his speech to the point she couldn't understand a damn thing he was saying

"Smmmmer…yorrr ssso dmmn fne" Brad slurred not even making a full sentence.

" Brad, I didn't hear a word you said retard" she was in no mood for his cheesy pickup lines. She knew already that they would probably go all the way, but still she didn't need to hear his crap.

Brad broke apart from her suddenly, anger written all over his face. He didn't like to be yelled at, especially from the school slut. He just starred at her in rage for a brief moment, than hit her so hard across the face that it sent her tumbling to the sand. She lay motionless. Brad looked down the beach for his friends and called them over.

When they arrived to the scene of a motionless Summer Roberts, they decided that they'd take liberties with her. After all, she was the school slut.

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_Oh, oh  
Be my baby  
Ohhhhhh  
Oh, oh  
Be my Baby  
I'll look after you   
And I'll look after you_

If ever there was a doubt  
My love she leans into me  
This most assuredly counts  
She says most assuredly

Seth stumbled around the house, attempting to hit on as many girls as possible with his new found, alcohol influenced, confidence.

"Hey Girl, you wanna know what it feels like to be with a real man?" Seth slurred. He grinned cheekily until he was shut down with a hard slap.

He made his rounds to the different single girls at the party, receiving the same answer, with the added slap.

He stumbled upon a small, blonde haired girl sitting in the corner alone. Reading to Seth's amazement, the new Legion comic. He could spot those from a mile away. He couldn't believe his own eyes, this was too good to be true.

" Hey girl-girl-girl friend!" Seth shouted into the girl's ear. She jumped up and clenched her fist of Seth, who was already making friendly fist gestures.

"You wanna go? Let's go then!" Seth slurred playfully. To his amazement, the girl laughed at his joke.

" So what's your name"

"Cohen, Seth Cohen" Seth replied, trying to feign a mysterious tone.

"Oh haahaha I'm Anna Stern." She answered and reached out her hand. Seth realized this girl was actually giving him a chance, so he reached down and grabbed her hand, then kissed it trying to act like a gentlemen.

She blushed slightly then began laughing. The two hit it off instantly, sharing stories about their life, dreams and secret crushes. Seth couldn't stop talking about Summer, he realized she was beginning to get bored with him. So he decided to break the awkwardness and strung up a comics conversation.

" You like comics?" She grinned from ear to ear.

" Yeah, sometimes there the only thing that gets me by" he replied with sadness.

They were now both very intoxicated, flirting with each other every chance they got. Just when Anna was about to make a move to kiss him they heard a shocking and sudden scream.

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_Oh, oh  
Be my baby  
I'll look after you  
After You  
Oh, oh  
Be my baby   
Ohhhhh_

It's always have and never hold  
You've begun to feel like home  
What's mine is yours to leave or take  
What's mine is yours to make your own

The entire group of teens hanging inside suddenly broke off in different directions. Obviously, they took the scream as a sign of the cops coming. The house was all but empty, except for Seth, Anna, Marissa Holly, Luke and the rest of the water polo team.

Every one of them glared at Seth. Wondering what the hell a geek like him was doing at Newport rager.

The group began to break out in search of the mysterious voice. Marissa was already out the door and looking for the unknown person. She had an uneasy feeling in her gut that it was someone she knew.

Seth had that same feeling, except he was 10 times worse. He was about to head out the door to begin searching when he was stopped by an infuriated Luke

"Go home geek!" He said and shoved Seth to the ground, but Seth immediately got up. For the first and only time in his life, he was going to stickup for himself. He felt that he needed to get to the owner of that voice as soon as possible

" Yeah who invited you suckass!" another water polo player beamed. Seth just stared at him, clenched his fist and punched him with everything he had. To his amazement, he hit the ground like a sack of rocks. Seth couldn't stare in awe as he quickly bolted out the door and out towards the beach.

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He ran out with a full head of steam, he needed to find that girl. It was the first time in his life where he was scared, yet didn't result to sulking in a corner. He looked and saw a small group of extremely buff guys surrounding a small body curled up in ball. She was screaming with all her might. Then Seth realized who the voice belonged to.

It was his Summer. Well not exactly his Summer as she rejected him numerous amount of times, including the one about 3 hours ago that still stung him. He felt enraged at what those jerks were trying to do to her. They were feeling her up all over. While the seemingly ticked and unlucky small one, held her to the ground.

He stormed over toward the group and was about to get their attention, when he was cut off by Anna. She grabbed his arm, and Seth turned around his fist already clenched

"Let go of me!" He said coldly. Anna noticed the darkness in his voice but held on tight.

"Don't do this Seth, she's just a girl. She doesn't give a crap about you!" She said desperately. " Let's just go hang at my house and read some more comics." She tried to convince him with puppy dog eyes. Seth wasn't buying it, not for one second.

" No! Leave me alone!" He ripped his arm out her grasp and started back toward the group of pricks.

" Hey assholes!" Seth yelled. Getting all of their attention. " Get your damn hands off of her." He said more coldly than before.

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" Hey look Brad, it's little emo lover boy!" One of them said. They all had their attention on the thin, fragile Seth Cohen, but still had a grasp on Summer.

"Did you meatheads hear me?" He beamed in anger. " Let her go!"

They were becoming angry with the way this geek was talking to them, so they placed full attention on Seth, throwing Summer to the ground as she whimpered towards Seth.

He pulled her up so she could stand and whispered into her ear.

" Are you alright? Did they hurt you…Those son of a.." Seth said with his full attention on her. Completely forgetting about the angry mob in front of him.

She starred into his eyes, sensing concern and fear for her, she lightly nodded with her tear filled eyes quickly fixating on the sand. 

Seth was in another world. He was leading Summer Roberts away from the perveted, chest shaving jerks, but was suddenly yanked back by a strong arm

" Where you going lover boy, you can't take that bitch away that easy." One of them glared. Seth turned to Summer who was pleading with eyes of fear. Seth surprised himself, and took his eyes off Summer, and looked behind her. Luke and the rest of his gang came stumbling down to the beach. Marissa joined Summer and wrapped her in a friendly embrace.

A crowd quickly gathered and felt like all eyes were on Seth, he never showed the slightest sign of intimidation.

Luke, Brad and the entire water polo players circled Seth. The party people returned to the beach, making yet another circle behind Luke and his cronies. They were expecting a beating.

Summer and Marissa were excluded from everything. Summer looked at her knight in shining armor once again, she actually was finding Seth Cohen charming. He was defending her. But she couldn't let him get killed.

"SETH!" She yelled, Seth jerked his head to a scared Summer. He was surprised she knew his name. " Don't do this, get out of here now!"

"No can do Summer, But how about you take your own advice and get out of here quick." He said and flashed her a smile.

" Don't worry about me, I'll see yeah later at school!" Seth said nonchalantly, trying to make himself believe he'd make it to school on Monday.

" Hey Queer!" Brad jerked Seth around and punched him straight in the jaw. Seth dropped. Summer shut her eyes, still not leaving the scene. The team was about to pile on him and begin beating him, but to their surprise Seth sprung up.

Seth punched Luke in the nose, sending him scurrying to the side. Seth felt like a hero. Hell he felt like Superman. As he was basking in his glory, he was not aware of a lurking Brad creeping up behind him. Suddenly Seth was tackled from behind.

He just laid on his stomach and closed his eyes. The team continued beating Seth. Seth couldn't feel his face. He was slowly fading out, but could hear the crowd cheering. He gazed around until he met Summer's eyes. She looked in near tears.

Seth surprised himself and gave her a weak smile. He was in his darkest hour of need, and here he was smiling at Summer.

"_God I'm such an idiot!" _Seth thought to himself.

Luke decided to end this with one last blow to the face, Seth was out. The team laughed and walked off toward Holly's house. The crowd eventually followed.

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Summer saw the crowd fading away, she then rushed over to Seth's side. Her face looked horribly, she had mascara all over the place. She was immediately joined by Marissa, who was already calling 911.

Summer lifted Seth's head onto her lap and began frantically attempting to comfort him.

"COHEN WAKE UP GOD DAMN IT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Seth barely managed to open his eyes, to a crying Summer Roberts.

He quietly whispered to her " Are you alright Sum? Di-Did they hurt you?" He asked in fear of her answer. He was genuinely more concerned for her then himself.

That did it for Summer. Hear he was, beaten to a bloody pulp and he was asking if SHE was okay. She gave a quick smile and she started blushing. Seth saw her face and then slowly slipped of into darkness. With a grin spread from ear to ear.

He knew she was safe. He protected his Summer. Before he dozed off into darkness, he realized that he was right all along, Summer was in fact the girl of his dreams.

_Oh, oh  
Be my baby  
Ohhhhh  
Oh, oh  
Be my baby  
I'll look after you _

You are so beautiful to me

**Okay I hope that wasn't too bad please read n tell me what you think. R/R n let me know.**


	4. The Curse of Comfort

**Chapter 4**

**The Curse of Comfort**

Seth had always said how lame the idea of seeing your entire life flash before your eyes just shortly before you die. It all just seemed to cliche to him. He never would imagine that it could actually be true.

He got destroyed by the water polo team. This one was worse then all the other times, because he thought surely it was the last time. Which wouldn't be a problem, because if he did die, he wouldn't have to see those jerks ever again. But on the other side of the spectrum, he couldn't bare the thought of not having his daily dose of Summer Roberts. Even though it was from afar usually behind a tree or staring from his locker.

Every so often, he was pulled out of his life flashbacks by distant shrieks and screams. He could just barely make out one voice. It was Summer. He could pick out her voice out anywhere. The other was Marissa, it appeared she was yelling into her phone, presumably to Luke. He hoped that she wouldn't be too mad, since it was Seth who punched him first.

But he was drunk and all Seth was trying to do was make sure Summer was okay. Instead he end's up in a hospital fighting for his life. He wanted Marissa to start calming down and reasoning with Luke, this way, if Seth did make it to school again, there would be damage control.

Seth slipped off back into deep thought and soon his entire mind shut down also.

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Summer couldn't stop the tears. They just kept flooding out of her nonstop. She had no control over herself since they carted Seth into surgery. She could tell it was serious, as they never even stopped to ask her more about what happened. Her guess was, broken ribs, probably broken nose, and broken arm.

Suddenly, Summer was awoken from her thinking by Sandy and Kirsten. Summer instantly wiped her eyes and any remaining tears. She didn't want to seem weak in front of the Cohens. After all, it was THEIR son who was in critical condition. She was just the girl who he saved. Nothing more.

Before today, she never even knew his first name. Seth that was it.( See she wasn't completely useless) She hoped that they didn't know who she was...The girl who ignored their son, then was rescued by him.

"Hello. Are you here to see Seth?" Kirsten said, putting on a fake smile for this girl.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I was with him at the party so I figured it was the least I could do.."Summer rambled on. Shit. She basically just said she was only there because she was the last one with him.

SHIT!

"Oh..." Kirsten replied shockingly. " Well, I'm sure he'll be glad to see you, no matter the circumstance." Kirsten felt a shiver through her spine, at the mention of her son actually waking up to see this girl.

"Friend or not, we're happy you're here...I'm Sandy Cohen, Seth's dad." Sandy said then offered his hand, which Summer shook.

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The Cohen's and Summer had been silent ever since they first arrived. Summer felt that Kirsten was angry with her, but Sandy kept attempting to make small talk with Summer. Showing that he was okay with her.

Their grieving silence was interrupted by a doctor who had a small frown on his face. He clearly looked flustered, as his eyes were baggy, and his brown hair was tangled everywhere. The doctor sighed then began to speak.

" Is there a Sandy or Kirsten Cohen here?" he asked while looking around the tiny waiting room.

"Yes, we're both here..." Sandy answered after seeing his wife to scared to even utter a response.

" Could I speak to the two of you over here please? It will only be a moment." the doctor said, then walked back towards the nurse corridor.

Sandy and Kirsten both followed slowly behind, Kirsten already began crying again. Sandy could only do his best to comfort her, as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"It appears that your son's body injuries aren't nearly as bad as we first suspected." The doctor noted Kirsten's sudden happiness, then dejectedly continued. " But, he did suffer damage to his brain which caused his body to shut down.." The doctor gulped and he too began to feel sad. Seeing Kirsten bawl into Sandy's arms.

" I'm terribly sorry, we don't know when he will wake up, he's currently hooked up to life support.." The doctor muttered. Trying to make sure only Sandy could hear, he couldn't bare to see Kirsten's reaction to this news.

" I'm so sorry, we'll notify you on any changes on his conditions." The doctor said and walked away with sorrow.

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Summer was anxious to hear news on how Seth was doing. She badly wanted to go and see him, and thank him more for his bravery. Even though he was probably in serious condition, she still wanted him to know that it wasn't for nothing. Chivalry clearly wasn't dead.

Just then, Kirsten and Sandy came back from their talk, with sad faces. Sandy clearly was trying to be strong and encouraging, but it was obvious he was on the brink of breaking down. Kirsten didn't even acknowledge Summer at all. She just walked through the hospital doors, not before shooting Sandy and Summer teary eyed glares.

Great. Now she knew that it was her fault. Sandy placed a hand on Summer's shoulder, trying to cheer her up.

"Don't worry about it Summer...it's Summer right?" Sandy asked. Summer just nodded for him to continue.

" She's just a little shaken up, that's all." Sandy explained. " She just needs to process all of this."

Sandy was about to follow his wife out toward the door, but was stopped by Summer's voice.

" Mr. Cohen! Wait!" She yelled while attracting attention towards herself from the on-looking nurses and patients.

"You never told me how Seth is"

"Oh that's right I'm sorry." Sandy forced an encouraging smile, then continued. " He's...a...umm..." Sandy choked out, she saw small tears form in the corner of his eyes.

"His body injuries aren't as severe as they originally thought, but he did suffer some brain damage and he's now in a coma." Sandy spat out, now with tears everywhere.

Summer felt her heart sink deep down into her chest. She couldn't believe that the only boy who had ever stuck up for her, was unconscious and may never wake up. She just slumped back into her chair and began to cry into her hands.

She really needed Marissa right now, but of course she was out either yelling at Luke or making out with him. It never dawned on Marissa that Luke was a prick who was only out for sex. Yet, even though he and his croonies sent an innocent kid to the hospital, Marissa was still able to forgive him. She was so clueless.

"You should go home Summer, there's nothing you can do here" Sandy said, breaking Summer's deep train of thought. "Go get some rest...Or go do whatever kids your age do." Sandy gave her a sad, encouraging smile then took off for the parking lot.

Both Kirsten and Sandy couldn't bare to be there anymore, since they both knew that they'd be there constantly in the coming weeks.

But how could Summer just go out and have fun. Pretend like nothing happened. Go back to her old ways of ignoring his existence. She couldn't do that now even if she tried. This kid risked his life for her. That was the fact.

And now she may have lost him before he was even hers. If even that. He probably was a really cool person. He seemed funny, judging from his sarcasm in front of the water polo players. She even admitted that he was kinda cute, underneath all of the bruises. The sweetest boy she had ever met( even though she only met him for about an hour) was lying in the hospital and would probably die, just for her...

"_No, Stop that! He won't die, don't think like that Summer!"_ Summer thought

She was beginning to cry even more, at the thought of losing Seth before she ever knew him. She didn't like to think about him dying. She knew that if he did, it would be her fault, and nothing anyone could say would change that.

Her tears were now slowly started to cease, as she slipped into a much needed sleep.


	5. On Top Of The World

**A/N: chapter name from boys like girls-On Top of The World. Not guna put any lyrics down tho**

**Chapter 5**

**On Top of The World**

Summer woke up with jumpstart. She didn't quite remember why she was in such a hurry to wake up this morning. Her guess was that it couldn't have been anything too special, since she assumed she just had a hangover from last night. She tended to lose her memory every time she went out and got plastered. Well, lost her memory more then the average person. It had been a week since the accident with Seth, and every night, she'd been hitting the bottle hard.

She smoothly made her way over to the shower and turned it on. She got all undressed then hopped in. As the cold water rained down on her, she quickly remembered her reason for waking up...

"_Cohen..."_

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_Seth's POV_

Do you ever wonder what it's like to be trapped in deep thought and not being able to get out? Its freaking awesome! I know my parents are probably worried about me, and mom is probably locked inside the closet with a bottle of vodka again. She never did handle bad news well.

But I'm genuinely happy. That's never been an accomplishment for Seth Cohen might I add. Although, I'm starting to get a bit lonely and depressed. I haven't seen Summer's face in more than...7 days. That's a long time for me.

Even though she never acknowledges me, I still give her my full attention whenever she's within a 30 foot distance of me. And I can't exactly dream about her like I used to. Everything is black...complete and utter darkness...It's starting to freak me out...Where's Oats when you need em'?

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Kirsten was of course, drowning in self pity. With, you guessed it, a bottle of vodka and a locked closet door. Despite Sandy's best efforts, she refused to open up. As Seth would always put it, she's staying in the fortress of solitude.

Sandy knew the chances of his son waking up were slim, but yet he still had to have hope, because without hope there really was nothing else to live for.

Everyone had their fingers crossed that Seth would wake up soon, the entire community were supporting the Cohen's with their thoughts and prayers. Kirsten hated that they continued to drill with them with "heartfelt" wishes. Those so-called wishes weren't going to wake her son up.

"Kirsten, honey, we gotta go see Seth today, what if he wakes up and we're not there?" Sandy reasoned from the other side of the door.

"Oh please Sandy, he was beaten half to death by those no-good, water bozo players!" Kirsten whimpered back. She knew how juvenile she sounded, but she really didn't care. She felt the blame was entirely on her, since everyday Seth complained or either came home with bruises all over. Never once did she think to grant Seth's wishes and move away from Newport.

It was their Home after all. But what person deserves to be beaten up at their home?

" I believe they're Water polo players honey, and Seth needs us to be there for him" Sandy pleaded.

He let out a big sigh, then collected himself before continuing. "For better or for worse..." He muttered. But Kirsten could still sense the hurt in his voice.

He was trying to be strong for her and she was acting like a baby. No matter how much she was hurting, Sandy didn't deserve this.

She slowly opened the door, to a surprised Sandy. "Hellllo...so are you coming with me or no?" Sandy said rather stubbornly.

She slowly nodded her head. " Seth needs us." She said more to herself then to Sandy.

They locked all the doors, and took off toward the hospital.

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_Seth's POV_

"_Bah-Bah-Bah-Bah!!This is the Sound of Settling...Bah-Bah! Bah Bah!" I love that I can sing Death Cab tunes as loud as I want, and no one will hear me. If this isn't heaven, I don't know what else is. I'm On Top Of The World!_

_Speaking of heaven, I thought there was supposed to be endless parties, trampoline clouds, and people flying around having the time of their life. I guess that was way to cliche, even for me to think of._

_I'm either dead, or for some stupid reason, still hanging on to my old life. Why the hell would I want to do that? I hate it there. Sometimes I think my only real purpose in life was to boost the already booming ego's of the Newport Youth. They love looking down on me to help make themselves feel good. Those sun-obsessed bitches! Hah, I can still make myself laugh...Some things just never change...hahahaha._

"_Cohen!" Huh? I could've sworn I heard my name._

"_Cohen god damn it wake up!" Hey...That's twice! Nobodies ever paid that much attention to me besides mom and dad. I feel blessed._

_OWWWW! Whoever the hell is calling my name must pack one hell of a punch. Jeez, I feel like my right arms been ripped out._

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Kirsten and Sandy entered the Seth's room, only to find a sobbing Summer punching the hell out of his arm. Sandy immediately jumped in and pulled Summer back. She just turned and cried into his shoulder. Sandy calmly rubbed her back and was doing his best to comfort her.

Kirsten however just rolled her eyes. She knew she was acting immature but it felt better on herself to blame Summer for all of this.

"_She doesn't give a damn about the fact that he may never come back...Its probably all just an act. Eventually she'll be back to her life, forgetting Seth ever existed.." _Kirsten thought while still staring at Summer coldly.

" Alright kiddo, I gotta sit down somewhere." Sandy paused while rubbing his back. " My backs been killing me" Sandy grimaced while he rubbed his lower back and took a seat.

"Oh I'm sorry..." Summer said sadly, wiping away tears. " I didn't mean for that to happen, I didn't mean to cause a problem." She apologetically looked over at Sandy. He seemingly understood her intentions and just shrugged it off.

" Cuz we all know you've already done enough as it is..." Kirsten ranted, not aware that they all had heard.

Sandy shot her a glare. " KIRSTEN!"

" What, if it wasn't for her, Seth wouldn't be in this damn situation." Kirsten yelled.

Summer looked down at the floor. She'd been accusing herself deep down ever since the accident, that this was her fault. Now with Kirsten blurting it all out, she KNEW it was her fault now.

"Why does Seth get punished for doing the right thing!" Kirsten screamed while throwing her hands in the air. " The only thing he ever did was love too much, and it all got thrown back in his face!"

Kirsten stormed out of the room and out the door. She could sense the on looking nurses and patients staring at her with their mouths opened. Everyone was shocked...Including Kirsten.

Sandy quickly rushed over to Summer, still in disbelief that his wife was capable of such harsh words. " Don't worry about her Summer, she's just..." He sighed then looked around the room. " She's just going through a rough time, that's all. I'm sure it meant nothing." he tried to look encouraging.

Summer knew she deserved every word Kirsten shot at her. It wasn't even worth crying anymore. She probably had run out of tears anyway. Her only reaction now was just looking down at her shoes and bowing her head in shame.

Sandy gave her one last attempt at a smile, then took off to find his wife. He was either really pissed or was going to comfort her. Summer assumed it would be the latter.

She looked around, noticing that no one else was in the room, besides Seth. So she rushed over to his bed and laid down next to him. Finally the tears began to flow out of her like a waterfall. She'd been holding it in so long, she knew it was a matter of time before she let it all out.

She leaned her head against Seth's shoulder and dozed off into a tear stained sleep.

During all of this fight, no one once looked over to the bed, where a very pale and fragile looking Seth Cohen was stirring. Was he possibly waking up.

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_Seth's POV_

_I'm pretty sure I can pick out that voice. It's gotta be dad. Sanford Cohen. That guy could be picked out of a crowd easily. Either by his eyebrows or voice. It was just that easy. The other must be mom. Who else could it be anyway. It's not like anyone else cares._

_Now, lets see if I can get a look at these two bickering people. This sounded priceless. It would be even better with a view._

_(After about 10 minutes, Seth managed to open one of his eyes) What do you know? We have a view! Yay! _

_Ohh ohh there goes the second eye...Even better._

_I hope they didn't leave the room yet- Oh My God!_

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"Su-Su-Summer!" Seth had his eyes wide open. He hadn't blinked yet. He was scared if he closed his eyes, that he'd be dreaming what was next to him.

Summer quietly began to wake up, sticking both her arms in the air and yawned. After a very long yawn, she opened her eyes only to find Seth staring at her.

She choked on her words, she was speechless. She did the one thing that she could think of at that moment, so she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him like there was no tomorrow.

Seth was still froze. Mainly because he thought he still had no movement in his body. He still had no clue why Summer Roberts of all people was there in his room. Maybe she was on candy stripe duty and decided to pop in for a second? Yeah, that had to be it.

"SETH! OH MY GOD!" She finally gathered her thoughts to string that together. She still had her arms wrapped around him.

She felt all caught up in the moment, the blood was rushing to her head, her hands were getting all clammy. She turned to an awestruck Seth, and planted on of the most passionate kisses on his lips.

It only lasted a short while, as it was interrupted by Sandy and Kirsten sprinting into the room. They must've received the news from the doctor. Seth's consciousness must have alerted all of the machines hooked up to him.

_Seth's POV_

_And I thought earlier I was on top of the world? Man was I ever wrong. This has got to be the greatest day ever. One of those days where all the star's and cosmos aligned. It was perfect._

_I'M ON TOP OF THE WORLD_

**Alrite I kno that was probably uber-cheesy but meh, oh well...hahaha...thinkin about introducing ryan into story soon...summers cheerful for now at least anyways...**

**Nxt chapt...seth/summer talk...kirsten/sandy/summer resolve issues...**

* * *


	6. Lips of an Angel

**Chapter title is Lips of an Angel by Hinder...I didnt feel like writing any of the lyrics out but I might use the lyrics in a later chapter...uh oh...foreshadowing...**

**Chapter 6**

**Lips of An Angel**

"Oh Seth thank god!" Kirsten embraced Seth literally in a breathtaking hug like there was no tomorrow. He had been in a coma after all, so it was getting down to the point where he might've never woke up.

Seth gasped for air as Kirsten was still squeezing all and any oxygen left in him, in a loving manner of course. Sandy appeared behind Kirsten and joined her over by Seth. It was a good thing that he came over to Kirsten, because if he didn't Seth may not of survived.

Kirsten immediately controlled herself then started babbling incoherently to Seth.

"_That's where I get it from..."_ Seth thought as he was still trying to understand what the hell is mother was saying. Sure her mind was probably racing with a million thoughts. Happiness, sadness, relief ...you name it, she most likely went through them all. But it wasn't like her to ramble on and on about nothing whatsoever.

While his mother was rambling, he realized that he had absolutely no feeling in his body. Had he become a vegetable? Well it would only suit his social status, since his status was non-existent at Harbor, it was...well...vegetable-like.

"...-My god Seth we were so terrified, I'm so happy that yo-."

"Mom! Whoa! Just ...whoa..you can give me your story later alright?" he saw his mother look down dejectedly, then looked at Sandy who was beside himself snickering at the thought that Seth just told his mother to shutup. Not in those exact words of course.

"I-I'm just not in the right frame of mind right now, okay...but later I'll love to hear all of it." Kirsten perked up instantly with cheer. Most likely at the part where he said 'later'. Because about an hour ago, 'later' didn't seem realistic. They were all almost certain he'd never wake.

An eerie silence fell over the room. If it hadn't been for Kirsten's rambling, this room would've been dead silent earlier. Seth saw Sandy rubbing Kirsten's back and leading her out of the room.

"_Now why would they just leave me here all alone?"_Seth puzzled. "_Great! I wake up from the worst beating in the world, and they leave me here stranded."_

He took this time to study his surroundings. His room wasn't very big at all. There wasn't even a TV! There was Get-well cards neatly stood up by the small night table. He assumed it was from Julie or Jimmy. Since no kid his age gave a damn about him. Not even the jerks that nearly killed him cared. Not even the girl he protected...Not even Summ-.

He froze instantly from his deep thought and came across a small brunette girl sitting in the corner just staring at him.

"S-S-Summer?"

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_Everything I loved about her, I'm throwing it right out the window, and replacing them with new reasons why I love her. This was above and beyond her. Why would she even be here anyway?_

_She shouldn't feel guilty or ashamed about this whole situation. I'd do anything for her. She should know that. Okay, okay maybe she shouldn't know that...since she probably already forgot my name by now. Summer's always been shallow._

"Seth..." she choked on yet another sob. _Oh snap! She does know my name. That and the fact that I'm not pissing myself just at the sight of her, is surely a tie for Shocker of the Year._

"How are you feeling?" she walked over and began to gently rub his hand.

"I'm fine, better than fine, living even..which is always a good sign as opposed to being, ahh lets say dead.." She just shook her head and laughed. Of course only Seth Cohen could make a joke just after coming out of a coma.

"And about earlier...um I'm sorry I just got soo..." She took paused then removed her hand from Seth's. "Overwhelmed.."

"Overwhelmed?...Summer what are you talki-." He tensed up immediately then realized what she was talking about.

_Summer kissed me! And not in your traditional, old fashioned peck. It was full of passion and care. It was up in the ranks of the Brittney-Madonna kiss. Ew why did I just refer our kiss to Brittney Spears and Madonna? And why hell am I using Summer's trademark 'Ew'? I must be hallucinating things. I must still be drugged up from all the medications...Thats gotta be it._

"Yeah, exactly that, it was nothing more got it!" Summer raised her voice and was almost going to raiser her fist also. But quickly realized that A) they were in a hospital and B) he just woke up from a coma which was caused by C) a severed beating involving fists. So fist threats weren't exactly the best gestures right now.

"Got it..." He gulped then looked away so he could hide his embarrassment. A smile grew on Summer's lips when she saw him begin to panic and get flustered.

"Well Cohen, I'm glad your okay..." Summer started to walk toward the door. "I'll see yeah around."

"Bye Sum-Summer." he stuttered at first but quickly finished with a confidence. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she glanced back at him. He was still staring at her with those puppy dog eyes and a huge grin spread all over his face.

"Wait, there's one more thing..." Summer walked back towards the end of his bed. "Wh...Why did you do it Cohen?" She never once made eye contact with him, but her stomach was twisting in knots just at the thought of his eyes piercing at her.

He knew exactly what she was talking about, judging by her refusal to even look in his direction.

"Summer, nobody deserves to go through what you experienced.."She looked up for a second at his chocolate brown eyes, then turned down again.

"Especially not you..your too perfect for that.." He lifted her chin up so she was staring right into his eyes. "You know I'll do anything for you.." She shot him a genuine smile, one that he didn't think Marissa had even seen before. That made the rest of his day.

She walked out shortly after and closed the door behind her. She sank down against it and let out a huge sigh of relief, one she felt she had been holding in ever since he woke up.

She was instantly woke up from her trance by an impatient woman tapping her foot repeatedly. She glanced up, only to find Kirsten staring at her with frustration.

"Umm hi stood and brushed off the dirt which was evident on her jeans.

"What are you still doing here Summer?" Kirsten kept her angry gaze fixated on her.

"I just wanted to check on Seth before I went home to-."

"-before you went home to your 'popular' friends so you can go do all the drinking and partying you want, then forget completely about my son who just woke up from a COMA, which YOU caused?!?" Kirsten was fuming. She didn't like the fact that this girl was suddenly hanging around all the time, after not once acknowledging Seth for the past 15 years.

"I-I was going to say an empty house..." Summer sadly treaded off towards the exit, with Kirsten still staring at her.

Kirsten would not pity this girl. She deserved to be alone for what she did to Seth. It was her fault right? She wasn't just accusing this girl because she was mad at herself for not preventing it...Right..?

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_I kissed Summer? Oh my god...this is now the greatest day ever...I know just a few days ago I said that IT was the greatest day ever...but scratch that, new best day ever..._

_Sure it was probably just a sympathy kiss, trying to make me forgive her for what happened..which she didn't have to do..I love her too much to just stand there and watch her get raped. She's an angel to me and she still doesn't know it...All she knows is that I'm an emogeek whos obsessed with her.._

_There were so many thoughts running through my mind when I woke up...like for instance when the new Legion comic was coming out, to even process that the first person to see me once I woke was Summer, who later attacked me with her lips with more passion then I knew she even had..._

_It still seems so surreal that Summer Roberts, homecoming queen/most popular girl in school, kissed the quirky, geeky likes of Seth Cohen._

_And since I have absolutely no feeling whatsoever in my entire body, the only thing I can actually feel is the lingering presence of her lips still laced over mine...what a shame...haha not!_

_I know this entire day is going to end up bittersweet, as everything will return to normal..I go back to school, Summer looks in disgust at me, then I get my brand new chuck taylor's pissed in...those speedo wearing, chest shaving sons of bitches.._

_I still hold hope though, that Summer will let her guard down just for me to come into her life, she should know that if she did, I wouldn't let her down. I would be by her side forever...I know cheesy right..I'm in highschool and I'm declaring eternal love for a girl who only recently found out my name. But the truth is, I can't see myself being with anybody else but her. She's an angel.._

_And the lips of angel kissed me, Seth Cohen...What a day..._

**R/R please n tell me what you think...nxt chapter I have no clue what to write about so it'll b a while till I write it.**


	7. The Makings of Disaster

**A lot of Kandy in this chapt...it might be another long one but I haven't decided yet...Ryan might get introduced in the next either 3 or 4 chapterds...havent made up my mind yet tho...well anyways, enjoy.**

**Chapter 7**

**The Makings of Disaster**

" _One week later and I finally got out of that hell hole. I even had to go through the humiliation of getting wheeled out on a wheelchair...I guess it only figures since mom would've made me take anyway..._

_I didn't see Summer for the rest of the week. The only time I saw her was that one glorious day, after I woke up. Its still fresh on my mind..it's not like I was expecting her to be waiting on me hand and foot...she's probably off doing better things like shopping or tanning.._

_I finally got to see Oats...its been a long time buddy...sure it sounds pathetic, but I truth is, I missed the guy..well, not guy..but horse...oh you get what I mean...Me and Oats go way back to the Star Wars days...now its all comic books and anime..._

_My room seems so much smaller to me now, I haven't been in it for about a week and a half. It's the only place I feel safe in..its my sanctuary from all the bullshit that is, Harbor Highschool._

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"Seth, honey, its time for dinner!" Kirsten yelled up the stairs.

"Okay one minute mom..."

"_Great..another lovely, home-cooked meal by none other than the wasp herself, Kirsten Cohen...I honestly would rather eat dirt somedays then her cooking...Dirt actually sounds delicious compared to her disastrous creations..her cookings were the making of disaster.."_

Seth slowly made his way down the stairs, taking it one step at a time. He was still getting used to being back on his feet again. It was only yesterday that he was allowed out of the wheelchair. Kirsten had made him stay in it all day, and made him sleep on the couch in the living room. There was no arguing of course, as Kirsten Cohen never loses those.

"Hello Seth, how are you feeling...I haven't seen you sinc-."

"Did Rosa make this or you..."Seth gave a disgusted look at the food infront of him.

"Umm if I say Rosa will you eat?"

"Mom, its obvious you cooked this...not many people have mastered the art of burning biscuits...your in a league of your own.."

Sandy began grinning uncontrollably at this. He didn't mind her cooking, that was until Seth pointed every single flaw out of it and then he had a whole new spin on it.

"Well mom, thanks but no thanks...I think I'll just have some chips.."he reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bag of salt and vinegar chips.

"Oh no you don't..we're eating as a family..get back here!" Kirsten insisted but it was too late. He was already digging away into the chips and making his way back up the stairs. Kirsten just sighed then turned back to her food.

"Yeah know honey, it might just be-."

"-Don't you dare say a word about my cooking!" Kirsten cut him off before he could finish. She held her butter knife up and pointed at his throat. Sandy just gulped then turned back to his food.

"All I was going to say was that his attitude might be because of the whole Summer situation."

"What does she have to do with anything?"

"You know as well as I do that he's in love with her, there's no reason to think otherwise.." Sandy picked at his food then continued. "Then for her to stop showing up, out of the blue, after she'd spent nearly every hour at his side was strange.."

Kirsten tried her best to give her most questioning look to him. "Yeah...what was up with that..." She trailed off then dug back into her food. Sandy didn't buy that for a second.

"What did you do..." he gave her a sly smile but still pierced her with his eyes.

"I might have misinterpreted the situation with her a tiny bit..." she pinched her thumb and index fingers together. Sandy just nodded for her to continue.

"I know I sort of blamed the whole incident on her, but I panicked and felt my whole world crashing before my eyes...if Seth died..." she trailed off and started sobbing.

"Well, you hurt that poor girl over it...if there was anyone you should be frustrated with, it should be those punks that started this.."Sandy raised his voice as he thought about the kids that landed Seth in the hospital.

"Believe me Sandy I don't feel good about what I did..." Sandy reached across the table and squeezed her hand.

"I'll tell you what Kiki..."

"Don't call me Kiki! Only dad calls me Kiki because he won't...not.." Sandy chuckled and continued.

"Well, since I'm working on his case...yet again...that he must've rubbed off on me.." Sandy shot her a quick smile then continued.

"What I was going to say was, that you better go make things right with that girl, and in exchange, I'll take down those kids that started all of this harder then god himself.."

"Do we have a deal?" Sandy questioningly looked over at his wife.

"Its not much of a deal, considering you'd take those kids down no matter what but...I guess we do."

"Good.."Sandy got up and scrapped his plate off into the trash. Before he could walk away, he was stopped by his wife's voice.

"Sandy...I think its best that we keep this away from Seth, I don't want him to know what happened, okay?"

Sandy nodded in agreement then turned to walk out the door. Little did Kirsten know, that after dinner he always left to go grab some edible food next door from the Coopers.

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"_Maybe if I call her and tell her it's the guy who got the shit kicked out of for you, maybe she won't hang up..."_Seth pondered in his room. He was brushing the Captains tail. Strange as it sounded, it soothed him. Yes it was creepy but thats the way it is.

He didn't want to rush things with Summer since she probably hadn't thought about him since the last time she saw him. But she was all Seth ever thought of. He wanted to just call and thank her for what she did for him, considering the fact it should be her calling to thank him yet again...but that never happened.

" _Theres practically a 99 chance she'll just hang up on me immediately...but then again...theres a 1 chance she'll maybe talk to me, thats what I can only hope for. And maybe if things go well on the phone, come Monday at school, it won't be so bad."_

Seth picked Captain Oats up and began his peptalk to himself about what on earth he was going to say to Summer.

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Summer had been lying in her bed all day, she still felt a huge amount of guilt about the whole Seth-incident. There was nothing she wanted to do other than go over to his house and smother him in a hug.

But Kirsten's words still loomed in her mind. "

"_Before you went home to your 'popular' friends so you can go do all the drinking and partying you want, then forget completely about my son who just woke up from a COMA, which YOU caused?!?"_ Summer was shook from her thoughts by a sudden ring on her door. She slumped over to the door, only to find a blonde woman standing in front of her.

"Hi, umm Summer can I talk to you..."

"Hello Kirsten, what is it you want to tell me this time?"Summer glared at the woman, she wouldn't back down from her this time. She had home court advantage this time, literally.

"Well, I just wanted to say-."

"How spoiled I am? How its all my fault? I'm sorry Kirsten but I've already heard it all before, do me a favor and tell Seth I said hi..now good bye!" she was about to slam the door but was halted instantly by Kirsten's choked up words.

"I'm sorry..." the older woman looked anywhere but at Summer. Summer slowly creaked the door back open, and allowed the woman to continue.

"I treated that whole situation the worst possible way, it wasn't your fault what happened, I just...freaked blamed everyone but myself...but I also know there's nothing I could've done anyways, because it just dawned on me that I raised a pretty good boy..." Kirsten smiled to herself.

"I realized that he did the right thing in protecting you, I know he'd rather die before he ever let anything happen to you..as funny as it is Summer, he really cares for you.." Summer was lost in thought, yet again about Seth.

"Well I better head home now, and again Summer, I'm so sorry about everything..." Kirsten wrapped the girl in a friendly embrace then turned to head for her car.

Only to leave Summer to stand and ponder everything she just heard. She knew what Seth did was the right thing, and he probably would die before seeing her get hurt. But why did she treat him like dirt. He was only one that treated Summer like an angel, and for all these years, she'd been throwing it all back in his face.

She closed the door, and started back up the stairs towards her room.

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"Here it goes buddy, wish me luck..." Seth patted the plastic horse's head then picked up the phone. He didn't need the phonebook to find Summer's number. He had it burned into his mind, even though he never dared to call it.

It started ringing. Seth's hand was already sweating before he even dialed. Now it was getting clammy like hell. After a few rings, he started to think that maybe she was just screening his calls, waiting for him to give up or something. Then he heard a voice on the other line.

"_Hello...?" _he could tell that she had probably just been sleeping. He checked the clock, it was only 8:30, a descent calling hour.

"Uhh Summer? Hi its-" he choked out but was cut off by her voice.

"_Seth...hi, how are you..."_ she sounded nervous. Seth had never heard this side of her before. Its not like he heard any side of her before last week anyways.

"Umm yep thats me, and I'm fine I don't really know why I called...I better just hang up ...sorry about everything Summer..." That right there killed Summer yet again. It seemed like everything he did got to her. He was always apologizing to her, when it should be her being sorry for everything. But she knew that Seth was a gentlemen, thats what she loved about him.

"_No Seth, its okay...don't hang up.."_ She pleaded. Seth started thrusting his hands in the air silently and jumping up and down on his bed. "_Score Cohen!" _He thought as he was still entranced by her voice.

"Alright, uhhh, what do you want to talk about?"

"_You of course stupid...how are you feeling...are you still sore from everything?"_Summer immediately smacked herself in the head. Her attitude always popped in at the worst of times.

"Right, well ummmm-." before he could finish he heard a loud shriek on the other end of the line.

"Summer! Are you okay? Hello!"

"God Cohen, take a pill it's just Marissa..one minute okay?" he nodded but realized she couldn't see.

"Okay...sorry.."there it was again Summer thought, always apologizing.

"Summ, whats goin on? I haven't seen you in like forever.." Marissa poked her head into the door.

"Hey Coop, ahhh I haven't been feeling too great lately, I think I got the flu..." she lied. "Besides you couldn't have missed me too much, you have Luke.."

"Oh please, do you think I could stay with that ass after what he did to that Cohen kid, if I was still with him, my parents would probably kill me...they always take the Cohen's side..." She said bitterly, clearly she still wanted Luke, but knew the right thing to do was dump him.

"Coop, I'd love to hear everything, I would but I got someone on the phone..." she picked the phone back up. Marissa just shrugged then began reading one of the many magazines laying nearby.

"Hi sorry about that..." She mumbled, almost in a whisper.

"How's Marissa doing?" Seth questioned, feeling as if they were all good friends.

"Who Coop? Oh you know she's..." she took a look at her friend. " Coop!"

Marissa took note then stood and walked over toward Summer.

"Who is that Sum? Is it Brad?" She asked as she reached for the phone.

"Coop No! Its ahh just this geek from school that I helps me with homework." She immediately realized that the so-called 'geek' on the other end was Seth.

"_Shit!" _she thought.

Marissa stopped reaching for the phone then turned back toward the bed.

"_Hello... sorry about tha-."_she began but was cut off by a click on the other end. He hung up on her.

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Seth felt an tug on his heart when he heard her talking about him. He couldn't take much more of it, so he hung up. Was this some cruel joke being played on him? What did he think that Summer would just open herself up and begin hanging with him? She was too good for him and she knew it. She had no reason to acknowledge him.

"_She's too good for me...why the fuck do I even like her...everytime I feel like I take a step forward with her, we end up taking like 10 steps back...She doesn't give a crap about me..." _Seth noticed a small amount of tears gathering in his eyes, but quickly dismissed them.

"_Real men don't cry Cohen...maybe thats what Summer wants is a real man...she must think real 'men' are the ones who shave their chest and pick on weaker people just for kicks...well if thats what she thinks then thats that. I'm through..."_ Seth buried his head into his pillow and silent sobbed until he fell asleep.


	8. Highschool Never Ends

**Chapter title is from the song Highschool Never Ends-by Bowling for soup. Not going to use any of the lyrics tho, but ill probably have another song in there.ill post wat it is at the end.**

**Chapter 8**

**Highschool Never Ends**

"_Monday morning...I thought this day would never come..I better go tell mom to set up my funeral arrangements..this days going to be hell" _Seth sprawled out on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"_Make a Mental note to avoid all 6 foot something, strongly built, chest shaving asses today..." _Seth rolled off his bed and to his feet as he thought about the days upcoming events. Word had gone around town about good old Sanford Cohen charging those kids with attempted murder. All the kids would know, and they'd all either mock him or beat the living crap out of him for ratting. Which he didn't, Seth knew better to rat people out. What they were really mad about was the fact that he survived it, because thats all that he did wrong.

All the names would come out today...geek, fag, queer, momma's boy, you name it...they were coming today. Sandy didn't help the cause out much either, after he lobbied to everyone about Seth's injuries. Sandy Cohen taking him under his wing for protection, was far worse then momma's boy that was for sure.

"Seth let's go, now! Or your going to be late..." Kirsten hollered from the kitchen. Seth moped down the stairs, grabbed the lunch on the table and out the door to an awaiting Kirsten Cohen. He got in and they were off.

"Now I hope I packed everything you need for today, I threw in an extra packet of pudding just because of how much I love you..!"Kirsten playfully squeezed his cheeks together.

"Mom, stop you know the rules once we're on school property." Seth gave a disgusted look then pointed out the window. They got there soon then he expected. "No mushy, embarrassing, potentially social status killing mom love!"Seth finished as he opened the door.

"Right, right got it...bye Seth have a good day!" She said cheerfully then drove off, leaving Seth on the outskirts of the school. He turned around only to see almost the entire student body staring at him.

"_Great and so it begins..."_Seth let out a huge sigh then began the walk to his locker.

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"_Wow I've never had this much attention on me in my entire life, but this kind of attention I could do without, its not the type I want...On the other hand, at least I haven't thought about that petite brunette who keeps stomping on my heart then throwing it off a cliff. Thats what she does to me, yet I know despite my best judgements, I can't not like her...She's undeniable."_Seth made it to his locker only to be surrounded by a group of teens.

"_I can't believe he ratted on them, the polo' players are totally going to beat his ass..."_ Seth heard one say.

"_Yeah I know, and his daddy's not gonna be there to bail him out.."_the other said, while slamming Seth into his locker for the hell of it. He probably thought it seemed like the best thing to do.

Seth was too distracted to even attempt at defending himself. He was sidetracked by the only girl that could literally make his heart stop. Summer Roberts..

She strutted through the front doors, and of course caught the attention of all the boys in the area. So Seth's constant staring blended right in with the rest of the eyes. She was dressed casually, in her case at least. She had her hair up in a pony tail, a tight pink shirt, and a pair of jeans. Yet she still was easily the most beautiful girl in the room to Seth. But to others, she was just 'hot'. Not beautiful, not smart, not funny...but hot. It killed Seth that everyone was delirious to Summer's other qualities that he KNEW were there. She just chose not to show them.

"_Stop with the obsessing Cohen, remember the pact...I said I'm through with her.."_Seth still kept his gaze fixated as she approached his locker. "_Oh my god, oh my god she's coming this way...screw the pact..maybe a friendly wave, followed by a friendly talk is okay..."_

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Seth began blushing uncontrollably. Summer could see it on his face, who the hell couldn't. He looked so cute with his dimples, tangled curls, and vintage tee. The one thing she liked about Seth, was that he had style. Even though noone understood it. They all just referred his style to dork-like.

She couldn't hold back the big grin that had now spread over on her face, she thought he was such a sweetheart. She could see him self-destructing just at the sight of her.

"_So he should...after all, I'm Summer Roberts, and he...is the school dork.."_ Summer thought reassuringly. She didn't like the fact that everything he did got to her. He was growing on her, and there was no sign of stopping. Every so often, she had to go through everything in her head, so that she didn't make a fool out of herself.

"_Maybe I should just walk right by him, he shouldn't take it too badly...I hope.."_ Summer thought then began to redirect her walking elsewhere.

"Summer!" she turned back and saw Seth smiling at her. He was waving wildly at her. She just smiled, but quickly looked around to make sure nobody was watching her.

Summer turned once again, this time back towards Seth. Maybe if she just had a friendly talk with him it wouldn't be so bad. No reputation lost or gained. Just as she was almost in front of him, she heard a loud shriek.

"Summ!!!!" it was Marissa, bearing fashion the best that money could buy. She always looked like she came right out of a magazine.

"Errrrmm-Coop!" Summer ran away from Seth and joined her friend by the end of the hall. She didn't want to look back, but she knew he wouldn't be smiling anymore. Summer gave hugged Marissa, than they both bolted for the school cafeteria.

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_**She's cool and she's cruel  
But she knows what she's doin'  
She pushed me in the pool  
At our last school reunion  
She laughs at my dreams  
But I dream about her laughter  
Strange as it seems  
She's the one I'm after**_

"_There she goes, yet again...She dodges me yet againg...god...did I really expect otherwise? She wouldn't want to be caught dead being seen with me in school, even if I happen to be the boy who saved her life, so to speak. I'm beginning to regret saving her.."_Seth closed his locker, which had been open all this time. He gave himself a smack on the head.

"_Snap out of it Cohen, you'd never let anything happen to Summer, why would you even think that? You'll do anything for her."_ Seth smiled as more thoughts popped into his head. He enjoyed talking to himself, as strange as it seemed. At least he had someone to help him through each day. Even if it came in the form of his own imagination.

Seth trotted off to his class, making sure to avoid all water polo players along the way. He didn't feel like anymore humiliation.

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Seth made his way to class. It was science, but he liked science and he didn't know why. He poked the door open and entered the class then found his reason why he loved science. Summer was sitting on one of the counter's flirting with Justin Stephens, one more jock he was trying to avoid. Though he was trying his best to ignore, he couldn't help himself, so he kept glancing at her every so often. She was deep in conversation with Justin. Seth began sketching her in his notebook, like he did everyday.

"_Great, I'm right back into my old routine.."_Seth thought as he continued his doodling, making no attempt at stopping. He didn't want to, he'd rather be pining for her than hating her.

_**Cause she's bittersweet  
She knocks me off of my feet  
And I can't help myself  
I don't want anyone else  
She's a mystery  
She's too much for me  
But I keep comin' back for more  
She's just the girl I'm lookin' for**_

The teacher entered the room, causing all the students scurrying back to their seats. Summer and Justin both bolted to their seats. They were opposite each other, each on the other side of the room. Seth snickered evilly to himself, shooting Justin glares behind his back.

"Hello class, how was your weekend?" The teacher asked while he was writing the day's assignments on the board. Most of the kids just shrugged and rested their head on their hands.

"I bet they must've been exciting, judging by your enthusiasm.." the teacher chuckled, still with his back to them. Nobody else laughed at his jokes, just him.

He turned and fixed his attention on Seth.

"Oh how are you? I didn't think we you were coming in until next week"

"His daddy told him to come in today, so he did as he was told.."Justin teased. The whole class laughed, including Summer.

"_What a prick...I hate that kid.."_Seth thought.

"I'm fine Mr.Stewart" Seth replied politely, causing all the snickering in the room to stop.

"That was unnecessary Mr.Stephen's, see me after class..." Mr.Stewart shot a look at Justin. " And that's great Seth, I'm glad your okay." he gave Seth a genuine smile then redirected his attention back to the board.

"Everybody pick your lap sheets up at the front, and the partner pairings are on the board...today we will be dissecting a frog...what fun right?" Mr.Stewart laughed again and sat back in his seat, digging away at a pile of assignments. He always allowed the students to do their own thing in his class, he was very laid-back.

_**She can't keep a secret  
For more than an hour  
She runs on 100 proof attitude power  
And the more she ignores me  
The more I adore her  
What can I do?  
I'd do anything for her**_

Seth looked at the board and found who his partner was.

"_What luck..Summer.."_ He looked over at Summer, who was just as surprised as he was. Seth couldn't quite figure out if he was happy surprised, or angry suprised. He hoped it was the first.

He gathered all the materials, then walked across the room towards Summer's table.

"Where shall we begin?" Seth sat then started right away with the assignment. He was trying hopelessly to avoid any extra talk with her.

"Well, its nice to see you to Cohen..."

"What? You saw me earlier remember?"Seth shot back, still with his eyes on the frog. That comment must have triggered something, as Summer got dead quiet.

_**And when she sees it's me  
On her caller ID  
She won't pick up the phone  
She'd rather be alone  
But I can't give up just yet  
Cause every word she's ever said  
Is still ringin' in my head  
Still ringin' in my head**_

"So Summer, we should just start off with-."

"-I'm sorry..." she interrupted him then looked up at Seth. "...for earlier, I was...just stupid..."

Before Seth could reply, he was stopped by a painful punch on the arm. Of course, it was just a nudge, but to Seth, it hurt like hell. He whipped his head around to see Justin standing in front of him.

"Cohen, you better not try anything on my girlfriend!" Seth looked back at Summer and gave her a confused look. She didn't even look at him.

"Oh...you two are..."Seth choked out, he hated the thought of Justin with her. It made him sick to his stomach, and not just because he wished that he was with Summer. Justin was bad news, and everyone knew it. Summer was better off away from him.

"Yeah, we are queer, so don't bother her!" he shoved Seth. " got it?"

Seth nodded, then Justin gave Summer a peck on the lips. Seth couldn't tell what she was feeling, but she looked ashamed. What for? She obviously wanted Justin, if they were dating..right?

_**She's cooland she's cruel  
But she knows what she's doin'  
Knows just what to say  
So my whole day is ruined  
Cause she's bittersweet  
She knocks me off of my feet  
And I can't help myself  
I don't want anyone else  
She's a mystery  
She's too much for me  
But I keep comin' back for more**_

Once Justin left, Summer and Seth both got quiet. Seth was hurt and Summer was ashamed. They silently worked on their experiment, until Seth couldn't take anymore of it.

"I'm sorry Summer..."he mumbled and she looked at him. "Mr. Stewart? Umm I'm not really feeling the greatest, it must be post-coma symptoms.." the one advantage of coming out of a coma, was that he could blame every little quirky thing he did from now on, on the fact that he was still recovering.

"Well you had better go sign out then.." Mr.Stewart buzzed the main office and informed them of Seth's arrival.

"And don't make Summer finish this on her own, I'll finish it when I come back okay?" the teacher just nodded, then returned back to his work. Seth didn't bother looking at Summer, instead chose to bolt out of the room. He hated abandoning Summer like that, but he did what he had to do. He wouldn't be able to control himself around her any longer. He had to get outta there.

There was only one thing he felt like doing. And that was going home and locking himself in his room. Death Cab and Captain Oats sounded like heaven right now, compared to being at school with the new happy couple.

He'd go home and daydream about Summer, and everything Summer. It broke his heart about the whole dating Justin thing. She was way too good for him, she was too good for every guy in Harbor. She was perfect, she was gorgeous and no guy ever would appreciate that in her. They were only ever going to find her as hot. And that killed Seth.

_**Just the girl  
I'm lookin' for  
She's just the girl  
I'm lookin' for  
Just the girl  
I'm lookin' for  
Just the girl I'm lookin' for**_

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Seth bursted into the house, it was only 10:30, so the only one who might be home was Sandy. Seth walked into the kitchen and found a boy about his age sitting in a chair, coffee in hand. The boy had a black eye, and bruises all over his face. Seth coughed so he could get the guy's attention.

"Hey.." Seth awkwardly shifted his feet around.

"Uhh hey, you must be Seth..." The boy looked just as nervous as Seth was. But how did he know his name. There was only one way to find out.

"Yeah thats me, sorry but do I know you?" Seth asked then joined the boy by the table.

"No, I'm Ryan.."

**Sorry about the cliffhanger:p but I had to bring ryan into the story...the song lyrics are rom the song Just the Girl-by The Click Five. Pleased R/R n tell me what ya think..**


	9. New Kid on the Block

**Thanks for all the reviews...so heres the next chapt..hope you like it.**

**Chapter 9**

**The New Kid on the Block**

"_No, I'm Ryan.."_ Ryan stuck his hand out for Seth to shake.

"Ryan, we're real men, we hug it out..."Seth wrapped his arms around Ryan in a man hug.

"Okay, thats enough..."Ryan slipped out of the hug.

"So what exactly are you doin-."

"-Seth! What are you doing here?" Sandy entered the room to a confused Ryan and school skipping Seth.

"Ahh I forgot an assignment at home.."Seth lied.

"Right, we'll talk about this later...but since you're here, Seth, this is-."Sandy was cut off.

"-Ryan, I know we just met." Seth interrupted.

"Good, now that's out of the way...Ryan's kind of umm...-." Sandy was cut off yet again.

"-Long story."

"I'd like to hear it.." Seth suggested as he opened a can of pop.

"Well, it all started...-."Sandy was interrupted a 3rd time.

"-when my brother stole a car, we got caught, I went to jail, then I went home, got the shit kicked out of my mom's drunk boyfriend, Sandy helped me out, and now I'm here." Ryan said all in one breath nonchalantly.

"Wow, that sounds like your everyday Monday morning..."Seth chimed in. Everyone was too overwhelmed for words, except for Seth, but he understood the situation so he kept his mouth shut. The 3 of them just sat in silence.

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Later that evening, the Cohen's plus 1 all gathered for yet another 'delicious' meal by Kirsten Cohen. When the meal was served, Seth and Sandy were hesitant to eat, but Ryan on the other hand dug right in. Kirsten was even surprised.

"Dude, thats kinda gross.."Seth gave a disgusted face.

"Seth! Watch your language at the dinner table. You'll spoil everyone's meal."Kirsten barked.

"Well mother, considering I have survived nearly 16 years of your cooking, I thinks it safe to say that you've spoiled my appetite every single meal you've cooked." Seth snapped back. "I can't do the math right, but thats a lot of spoiled dinners.."

Sandy burst into a laughing fit, followed by Ryan who didn't even have a clue what was going on. He didn't think the food was that bad to tell the truth. Kirsten even let out a small laugh.

"So, Ryan what's next for you?"Kirsten changed the topic to a more precedented one.

"Umm...I don't really know, ahh Sandy said he'd help me out with child services in the morning...so I guess thats whats next.."

"We'll get that all sorted out in the morning Ryan, but for now, Seth..." Sandy looked over at his son. "Take Ryan around town, show him the ropes of Newport."

"Father, ropes? That sounds a bit minty, don't you mean more like gates? Since this is a 'gated' community.."Seth shot back.

"If you wish to remain a part of this community, I suggest you shut your mouth and eat your dinner." Kirsten retaliated with even more zing.

"I guess, I can take him out around town...oh yeah theres only one thing...theres nothing to do here!" Seth snorted. "I'd rather spend time in Chino than this hellhole." Sandy and Kirsten both looked shocked. They had never seen this side of Seth before, he sounded so angry.

"Excuse me? This hellhole is your home, like it or not.."Kirsten shot right back. She was going head to head with her own son. Sandy could sense a fight looming, so he decided to side with one of them to get this over with. He chose Seth.

"Honey, maybe it won't be such a bad idea to let Seth visit Ryan...Ryan can take care of him and it will only be for the night." Kirsten tried to hide her anger by giving a fake smile. She didn't want to insult Ryan's childhood by picking apart everything wrong with Chino at the dinner table.

"Thats awesome, right Ryan?" Seth gave an encouraging smile.

"I-I don't know about this, I mean Chino's not exactly the brightest part of California..."

"So I'll wear a jacket..."

"No, no, I mean sure its bright, obviously with the sun and all..-."

"Sun? No problem I have plenty of sunscreen." Seth really just wanted out of Newport.

"Its kind of a shady neighborhood..."

"Mitten's required, yes..but I'll manage." Seth felt like he could go all day responding to Ryan's concerns. Finally Ryan gave in.

"I'm not going to win this argument am I?" Ryan questioned.

"No you are not..." Seth said with happiness, he didn't care he was going to a poor neighborhood. He wanted out.

"Mother, father...we won't waste anytime so we're gonna go right Ryan?" Seth motioned for Ryan to agree. Seth hadn't even knew Ryan for more than a couple hours, and already they understood each other so well.

Before Kirsten or Sandy could object, Seth was already halfway out the door, with Ryan trailing behind.

"You call every hour!" Sandy yelled but to no avail. The door was already closed."Sooo...it looks like it'll just be you and me home..." Sandy gestured to Kirsten and shot her a scandalous look.

"No robes, no chardonnay and no black socks..."she replied while cleaning up the table.

"Forget the blacks socks..we'll go barefoot baby!" Sandy began tickling her sides. She squealed and ran up the stairs, with Sandy hot on her trail.

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"So, this is Chino.."Seth looked out the window at the colorless town. It looked completely dead.

"Well its not gated but, I guess in a way it's home.."Ryan sighed as he waited at a stoplight.

"No man, don't get me wrong I like this place...its so-."

"-dark...?"Ryan cut in.

"No, I was gonna say real...compared to Newport, where all women are destined for plastic surgery." Ryan laughed quietly to himself, then continued with eyes back on the road.

"So where are we gonna go man?" Seth asked,

"umm..I don't know, I think theres a party down on my old street, I don't know if you'll want to go..."

"Party? Ryan, thats so 90210 of you.."

"9021 What?" Ryan took his eyes off the road for a second and glanced at Seth.

"Beverly Hills:90210, its only like the ideal teen drama, in which everyone loved." Ryan shot him a weird look.

"Or so I hear, I don't know...I would never..watch..it" Seth stuttered out. "Party? Sounds awesome..." Ryan just shook his head then made a U-turn and headed in the direction of his home.

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Ryan pulled into an old abandoned building, Seth assumed they must've been lost. That was until he heard loud music coming from the building.

"No way, parties in abandoned homes? This is turning a bit too Dawson's Creek for my liking.." Seth exclaimed. Ryan once again, shot him a confused look.

"Dawson's Creek, another teen hit, jeez your so hopeless.." Seth muttered as they entered the building. "Dude, you learn from me, I learn from you..." Seth finished.

The party was going pretty good, Seth got flashed a few times, and that never happened in Newport. He was a few beers deep when he accidentally stumbled backwards and bumped into someone. Seth turned, only to look death in the eyes. Literally, the guy had a 'DEATH' tattoo on his arm, and looked like he could crush Seth's body with his pinky.

"You got a problem boy.." the man yelled. On second thought, let's just call him Death. Seth still could make himself laugh, even in the most serious of times.

"No problems here sir..."Seth was beginning to sweat furiously. Suddenly a hand came on his shoulder, and Seth was about to swing, only to realize it was Ryan.

"Ryan, buddy, am I glad to see you.."Seth breathed a sigh of relief.

"Atwood, this guy with you?" Death asked. Ryan just slowly nodded, causing a few of the guys from Death's entourage to back off. Seth realized the music had been cut, and now it was dead silent in the building.

"Since...everybody knows everyone, I better introduce myself, My name is Seth Cohen...and I like comic books.."Seth replied, in hopes of getting a laugh. He didn't even get a smile. They were all silent brooding.

"Okay...hey look at the time I really better be on my way, it was nice 'talking' to you." Seth exclaimed sarcastically. Apparently they didn't like his tone, as one of them grabbed Seth.

"Watch your mouth smartass.." the man glared at Seth. The next thing Seth knew, he saw a once humble Ryan, turn and crack Death square in the jaw, then he punched the man holding Seth in the ribs.

"Seth Run!" Ryan bolted out of the room before Seth could even think of a smart response. He sprinted out of there before Death could get back to his feet.

"Floor it man!" Seth yelled and Ryan sped off into the middle of the night.

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"Hey, that was pretty fun wasn't it? Too bad your leaving tomorrow, I never get to have fun like this.." Seth dejectedly looked down at the floor in sorrow. He and Ryan were now sitting in the poolhouse and were chatting about their day.

"Seth, I forgot to mention sarcasm doesn't go over too well in Chino, sorry about that.."

"Yes that would've been helpful, considering sarcasm is like breathing for me." Seth quirked. Ryan must've have taken his comment personally, as he too had his head lowered.

"Hey man, don't worry about..."Seth tried his best to encourage the guy. "Why don't we play some playstation, we can play Grand Theft Auto...or any other game..its your choice.." he rambled.

Ryan just laughed then said. "Your only saying that because I stole a car right?" Seth nodded his head then shrugged. " And the fact that you wouldn't want to play the other game, since it's the Ninja game, and I absolutely kick ass in that game." Seth stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh really is that right?" Ryan shot back.

"Yes it is Atwood, you may be skilled behind the wheel, but my swordsman skills are unmatched.."

"Bring it on!" Ryan retorted as the game started and they both braced up for what would be an intense match.

**That was shorter than all the other chapters I know, but I had to get Ryan's character established...and also threw in some Kandy! Haha nxt chapter coming soon.**

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	10. The Cohen's

**Thanks for all the reviews, and heres the next chapter. I'll try to get 'some' SS in this chapter, but I cant make any promises. This might be really long, but oh well...enjoy**

**Chapter 10**

**The Cohen's**

"Man, I thought you said you 'owned' at the ninja game?"Ryan questioned as he beat Seth again for seemingly the millionth time. It was now Tuesday afternoon, and they were still going at it in the Ninja game. Seth opted to pass on school, and instead chose to hang with Ryan some more.

"Well, I own all of the Newport kids at it, but I guess fighting games are right in your wheelhouse.." Seth set his controller down, trying to hide his hurt.

"Funny..."Ryan shrugged it off and turned the tv off. They were waiting for Sandy to give them some news on what Ryan was going to do next.

Little did Ryan know, his mother actually skipped town and abandoned him completely. So Sandy was now working on a place for Ryan to stay. It was starting to get difficult, as not even Ryan's closest siblings or friends wanted to take him in. Really, who wants to take in a troubled teen?

Sandy entered the poolhouse almost on cue, and gave Seth a suspicious look.

"Isn't in Tuesday..."Sandy asked as he checked his watch, hoping to find the date there.

"Yes it is father, but I decided not to go in today...so I could you know, hang with Ryan and make him comfortable in our humble home." He didn't have the time to get in an argument with his son at the moment, so he just nodded then directed his attention towards Ryan.

"Oh, I almost forgot, how was everything in Chino last night?" Sandy asked, and Ryan grew silent. He was all choked up for words.

"It was unadventurous ..." Seth shot in, taking Ryan off the hotseat.

"Thats good..." Sandy gave a genuine nod, then proceeded on toward Ryan.

"So anyways, Ryan, as you know I've been trying to sort everything out regarding your case..." Sandy sat on a chair near the door and continued. " so I haven't exactly had time to figure out what your going to do for the time being. But how about you stay with us for a few more days, just until we can get this all sorted out."

Ryan dejectedly nodded his head and then Sandy stood and left the room. Ryan really wanted to get back to Chino. Not necessarily his home life, but to his actual life. The people in it that made his experience in Chino worthwhile. Theresa, Trey, Arturo..all those guys. He missed them.

Sandy entered the kitchen, and saw his wife carrying groceries in. He forgot that she had the day off today, so he walked over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Hello honey, how's Ryan doing?" Kirsten asked as she proceeded to put the groceries away. She knew Sandy had the tough task of telling Ryan that his mother abandoned him, and that he probably had to go into a foster home.

"About that..." Sandy was cut off by Seth and Ryan entering the room, it appeared they were still bickering about their recent gaming duel.

"-Ryan, you must've cheated, thats the only logical explanation..." Seth froze when he saw Kirsten.

"Mother, long time no see, ummmm me and Ryan were just going to head out now, and just so you know, School was great today!" Seth lied, he hoped his mother didn't know he skipped. "Bye mom!" Seth sprung out of the room.

"Uhhh Bye Mr and Mrs. Cohen, and thanks again for everything..." Ryan spat out then ran to join Seth outside.

"Well, judging from his reaction, he seemed to take the news well.."Kirsten stated as she finished the last of the groceries.

"See thats the point honey, I didn't exactly tell him about his mother..."Sandy rubbed his head and looked everywhere but his wife. "I told him he could stay a few more days, until we get everything figured out."

"Sandy! You did what?" Kirsten shot him a glare.

"Gee. What do ya know? Look at the time, my lunch break's over already...does time ever fly..." Sandy glanced at his watch. " Gotta run honey, bye I love you!" he pecked her cheek and bolted for the door.

"Well talk about this later Sandy!" she yelled but to no avail, he was already out the door.

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It was now Friday morning, Seth and Ryan were already up and dressed, because today Seth said they'd go sailing. Seth led the way down the pier, with Ryan trudging along behind him.

"Here she is buddy, _The Summer Breeze..._" Seth motioned for Ryan to join him on the dock.

"You call your boat a '_she'?_ Thats kind of creepy..." Seth hopped on the boat.

"Sure dude, it is named after a girl dumbass. I'm not gonna call it a guy, I gotta defend Summer's honour." Seth began plugging away at untying the boat from the dock.

"Oh, I'm sorry man, so is she like your girlfriend.." Ryan asked as he joined Seth on the boat.

"Uhhh...yeah sort of..." Seth got tongue-tied.

"Did you guys...umm..break up?" Ryan asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Not exactly...I uhh...haven't really spoken to her since before this past week...She never knew I existed a few weeks ago..." Seth lowered his head in dejection.

"Oh...I'm sorry..." Ryan didn't know why he was apologizing, but felt it was needed.

"Hey man, its okay, I'm over it now..." Seth lied. How in the world could ever get 'over' Summer Roberts. She was gorgeous, funny, smart. She was perfect, that summed everything up. Well maybe she wasn't exactly 'smart', but Seth knew underneath her bitchy exterior, that she was actually smart.

"I'm sensing tension, so what happened in the last few weeks man?" Ryan broke Seth's trance.

"Well, I went to this party, hoping I'd get her to talk to me, which she didn't...she shot me down quickly..." Seth sighed then continued. " so I later on at the party, I heard this scream. It came from the beach, so I rushed over there, and there she was. It wasn't on the best of times to see her, because she was getting raped right in front of me...so I intervened, got my ass kicked, but I saved her life man..."

"What did she do afterward, she still act like a bitch to you?" Ryan already was categorizing this girl as a bitch.

"I'm not quite sure, because I just woke up from a coma a couple weeks ago..." Ryan's jaw dropped.

"I'm sorry...I had no idea-

"It's alright man, I don't regret saving her...Let's get going then.." Seth gestured toward the ocean, then started off for the high seas, with Ryan still in shock over what he heard.

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It was about 6:00, and Seth finally came back and docked the boat. They'd been out almost all day. Seth still had bitter thoughts in his head about the Summer issue, which he never had since Ryan made him put everything out in the open. Maybe he _did_ need to get over Summer, after all, she wasn't showing any sign's of attraction to him. Even if _he _was the one who saved her life. She had Justin now.

S_eth's POV_

"_I think I'm gonna throw in the towel now, its been 5 days since I ran out on her in science, and if my actions affected her at all, she would've come by to see me...which she didn't...I haven't even been to school since that faithful Monday, so obviously I was the last thing on her mind._

_I just wish there was a way I could show her how badly she's hurt me, even if she never knew it. But nonetheless, she has hurt me, whether knowingly or not._

Seth and Ryan were now heading back to the car, when Seth stopped suddenly and dropped his jaw as he looked down the pier. It was Summer. Even if he was 'over' her, she still had the jaw-dropping affect on him.

"Ryan, Ryan, dude there she is..." Seth pointed down the pier to the girl.

Ryan turned to look down the pier, and spotted a short brunette, and a tall, lanky, but stunningly beautiful girl. Ryan peeled his eyes off her for a second, the back to Seth. He hoped and prayed that Summer wasn't the girl he was looking at.

"Which one? That one?" Ryan openly pointed down the pier at the tall one.

"The tall one? Oh please, that's just Marissa, and she's...uhhh...Marissa!" Seth shot a evil glare at the girl who happened to be his neighbor, and who happened to ignore him. Ryan grew a huge grin all over his face, but It saddened quicker then it appeared. He knew he'd never have the chance to talk or get to know her, since Ryan's time in Newport was limited.

"Yeah, she's my neighbor, and isn't exactly..." Ryan ignored the rest of Seth's comment as he was too happy to care what bashing came from Seth's mouth. _She_ was Seth's neighbor. This is too good to be true, things this good don't happen to Atwood's..Ryan thought.

"So man, what do you think?" Seth asked as he saw Summer and Marissa exit a shop and turn for the parking lot.

" about what?" Ryan seriously didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at.

"SUMMER!" Seth screamed a little too loudly, causing the girls to turn their heads.

Seth's face got red in a hurry, he looked away from the girls in embarrassment. The girls were now heading their way.

Summer and Marissa stopped in front of the boys and just eyed them up, Seth had a pair of dickies, a band tee and of course his chuck's on. While the Ryan, had a wife beater, and some jeans on.

"What do you want Cohen?" she glared at him. She was still slightly bitter about they way he'd been blowing her off this past week.

"Sorry Summer, I forgot what I called you over here for.." Seth lied, he needed an excuse out of this embarrassing talk. Summer shot him a death glare then turned to leave.

"Yeah I forgot what I was going to say, probably still post-coma symptoms..."Seth shot at her. He knew this would get under her skin. _And so it should_ Seth thought.

Now Summer was the one on the embarrassed side, she needed a way out of this. She still had an extreme amount of guilt towards the whole Seth situation. She was trying her hardest to be his friend, even though she knew that her newly acquired boyfriend didn't help much.

"I'm so sorry about that Cohen, and sorry about they way I acted..." She peered up at Seth, and saw him smile at her, dimples and all. " but me and Coop really gotta get going, party at Holly's..."

"Ahhh, another one of those..." Seth quipped. Summer blushed, because she knew damn well what happened at the last one. As did Seth.

"You should come!" Marissa finally spoke up, but It appeared she wasn't even talking to Summer or Seth. She was still eyeing Ryan up, and she knew he'd been checking her out ever since she'd got there.

Summer's eyes shot open instantly, and she gave Marissa a nudge on the side.

"Coop! Let's go now.." Summer dragged her friend away.

"Bye Summer..." she turned around, and Seth was still grinning at her. She rolled her eyes, then turned back and started off for the car.

Once she was out of Seth's sight, a huge smile came over her face and she couldn't contain it, not that she wanted to anyways. Seth had that affect on her, and she couldn't stop it. Seth had no clue about what he was doing to Summer, so he took her eye-roll at him, as another shutdown.

"See? There you have it, Summer must have, like no heart...I saved her freaking life man, and things _still_ haven't changed.." Seth shook Ryan's shoulders back and forth. " But you know what?" Seth released Ryan and continued. " We should go to that party...and it'll be better than the one in Chino...no offence..."

"None taken.." Ryan said sarcastically.

"Hey! Sarcasm! It appears our roles are changing Ryan...does that mean theres room for me to become the brooding badboy?" Seth asked as they both started off for the car. Ryan just shot him a look and rolled his eyes.

"Right, right got it, you got your style and I got mine...even though I think I can pull of the wife beater maybe better then you.." Ryan punched Seth's shoulder with a fierce blow.

"OWW jeez man, it was just sarcasm, remember...it is after all, _my style!_" Seth grimaced and held his shoulder.

"Whatever man, are we gonna go to that party." Ryan had been dying to see Marissa again.

"Yeah of course, its gonna be awesome, and it'll be on my turf..in Newport.." Ryan stopped in front of the passenger door, and gave Seth an unconvinced look.

"Okay, maybe turf is a little bit of an overstatement, but if I did have turf, this would be it.." Seth entered the car, followed by Ryan. " But first, we have to get the Sandy-Kirsten stamp of approval, before you go off and swoon over Marissa." Ryan whipped his head around and stared at Seth with a shocked look. How could he have known he'd been pinning for Marissa ever since he first laid eyes on her.

"Yeah I can tell you got a thing for her, its good because she's seems to be the type attracted to bad boys.."

"Don't make me punch you again..." Ryan rose his fist in the air, threatening Seth and then Seth spotted the fist in the corner of his eyes.

"Hey if you punch me, I'll crash this thing into the nearest building.." Seth shot right back.

"That's a good point..."

"Just trying to spare casualties man.." Seth retorted then continued the drive towards the Cohen home.

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Sandy and Kirsten had been treating Ryan like their own son now since their discussion on Tuesday. Kirsten was even beginning to soften up to him. They both had seen the bond Seth and Ryan had. They were acting like brothers, or in Seth's case, best friends. Friends was a word that didn't shoot out of Seth too often.

The boys entered the house, and went straight for the kitchen. They figured Sandy and Kirsten would be in there, probably topping off their second bottle of marlot. After all, everyone in Newport was a borderline alcoholic.

"Seth, Ryan there you are..." Sandy took another sip from his drink. Sandy then proceeded to cover the papers that were on the table. He and Kirsten both had been going through them before the boys got home.

"Mother, father, whats that?" Seth pointed at the papers on the table, they didn't do a good job at hiding them. Kirsten's face started to blush, as it dawned on her that this whole conversation was coming a lot sooner then expected.

"Seth, honey, could we talk to Ryan for a second..." Kirsten rubbed her neck so she could hide the expression on her face.

"Mother, don't call me 'honey' save that for Al Pacino over here..." Seth gestured at Sandy, then he heard him laugh. Ryan too was laughing. Seth grabbed some pudding, before leaving the room. He had a feeling about what they were going to talk about.

"Ryan, we have some news for you, bad and hopefully good...but its your choice.." Sandy gestured for Ryan to sit, and he obeyed.

"I'm sorry I haven't told you this earlier, but your mother skipped town...thats why we haven't been able to sort everything out...I am so sorry..." Sandy weakly gave him a smile.

"Figures..." Ryan lowered his head squinted his eyes. He would not cry, not even in the worst of times. " I'm assuming thats the good news..." Sandy chuckled briefly at this rare humor from Ryan.

"No...well the other news, is up to you to decide...you've been living with us for quite some time now. You've become a brother to Seth, and a son to us. Now child services would be up our ass for this but we still wanted try it and see if you'll agree...we want to adopt you." Sandy finished. Then both he and Kirsten stared at him, in hopes of a good reaction.

Ryan blinked his eyes twice, then rubbed them repeatedly. Could this even be possible?

"Now of course, if you say yes, we heard about your track record in Chino.." Ryan's eyes darted back down to the floor. He thought they didn't know about his home life.

"Hey it's a good thing, don't worry.."Kirsten replied reassuringly. "No more fights, comprende?" Sandy interrupted, oblivious to the fact Ryan hadn't actually said 'yes' yet.

"Yeah, no more fights..." Ryan choked out, he thought this whole thing was unreal.

"Well, from all of us...Welcome to the family..."Kirsten gave him a hug, followed by Sandy.

After they broke apart, Kirsten yelled. "You can come out now Seth.." to her surprise, he darted around the corner before she even finished. Her and Sandy then both left the kitchen, so Ryan and Seth could talk.

"You knew about this the whole time didn't you.." Ryan pointed playfully at Seth.

"Didn't wanna jinx it man..." he lifted his hand in the air for a highfive.

Ryan smacked it. " Dude...You're a Cohen now, welcome to a life of insecurities and paralyzing self doubt..."

"Now, just have to stay out of fights..." Ryan sat back down in his chair.

Seth choked on the pudding he'd still been eating.

"Yeah...that could be...difficult..."

**Sorry, I didn't get much SS in this chapt, but next chapt is the party, so there'll be lots there...the whole ryan thing mightve been rushed, but I did'nt feel like draging it out for 3 chapters... please R/R **


	11. The Ladies Man

**S/S in this chapter, but they don't really interact..R/R n tell me what you think.**

**Chapter 11**

**The Ladies Man**

"Dad come on! Its just a party..Nothing bad will happen..." Seth whined as he followed Sandy throughout the house. "And if worse comes to worse, I now have my 'brother' to protect me, right Ryan?" Ryan just shrugged and nodded.

"You let me go to Chino with Ryan, but you won't let me go to a party in my own neighborhood?" Seth gawked as he let out a small laugh.

"I don't care what I said before, I'm telling you no now..." Sandy explained as he finally eluded Seth and joined Kirsten on the couch in the living room.

"Fine be that way, I guess me and Ryan will just spend the night playing games and being bored out of our minds!" Seth whined again and crossed his arms.

"Oh what a shame..."Sandy said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

"C'mon Ryan, lets go.." Seth stamped out of the room and into the poolhouse, with Ryan trailing behind him. Sandy and Kirsten just broke out into hysterical laughter from the living room at Seth's antics.

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"So we're seriously staying in for the night?"Ryan questioned as he grabbed a controller and waited for the system to turn on.

"Pffft..Hell no..we're going to that party!" Seth said with authority and shut the game off.

"What exactly is your plan to get out of here?"

"Its plain and simple..Wait for the old folks to go to sleep than head out...My guess is that they'll be out in about a half hour. They're watching a Sylvestor Stallone movie, sleep is inevitable.." Seth explained and stood.

"Be ready in 30 minutes, I'll come back down to get you, alright?"Seth stated than walked out the door and to his room.

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"Ok man, this is like, so stealth..we're like secret agents!" Seth exclaimed as he started the car engine and pulled out of the driveway.

"I still don't think this is a good idea..."Ryan grasped the handle and tightened his seatbelt again. With Seth's reckless driving, he was sure to get them killed.

"Ryan, buddy, don't worry about lying to my parents...They're not going to throw you out, and besides, all kids do this..You got nothing to worry about." Seth said reassuringly as he continued on driving. Ryan just lowered his head and nodded. He really didn't like the idea of lying to Sandy and Kirsten. They just welcomed him into their home, and here he was sneaking out and going to a party.

"And we're here!" Seth squealed and parked the car far away from Holly's. There had to be at least 100 cars there easily.

"This is gonna be awesome..I'm gonna keep my options open at this party, you know, play the field."Seth hopped out of the car and started down the sidewalk.

"What about Summer?" Ryan closed his door and joined him.

"What about her...I've done everything from saving her, getting the shit kicked outta me, gone into a coma..all for her to just shrug it off and find a new boyfriend like I'm nothing..."Seth angrily spat out.

"Clearly your fine with not liking her..."Ryan said as they made their way up the front lawn.

"Clearly!" Seth shouted out a little too loud.

"I was being sarcastic.."Ryan stopped in front of the door and looked over at Seth and rolled his eyes.

"I know that..." Ryan once again rolled his eyes. "God I am so screwed..." They opened the doors and entered the party.

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The party was in full swing. The beer was flowing, the girls dancing, the potheads were already stoned out of their minds. Ryan and Seth quickly sprung over to the keg and poured themselves a cup.

Ryan was looking all over the party for Marissa, she had been on his mind ever since he saw her at the pier. He was dumbstruck at her beauty. He needed to find her, and that couldn't be done with Seth following him around.

"Eh man, I'm gonna uhhh..go to the bathroom.."before Seth could give a smart response, Ryan bolted out of sight and blended into the crowded drunks.

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It had now been an hour since Seth last saw Ryan. "_Who the hell takes an hour to go to the bathroom?"_ Seth was oblivious to Ryan's plan to find Marissa. Ever since Ryan abandoned him, he had been sitting on the couch in the living room enjoying the scenery. By scenery, it meant all the chicks dancing on the table a few feet in front of him.

Seth was taken out of his gaze by a tap on the shoulder. He whipped his head back and looked over the couch.

"Hey you...remember me?" the girl smiled at him than blushed.

"Uhhh...its Amy right?"Seth had no clue who the girl was.

"Anna.." Then it hit him. Anna was the girl he met at the last party he was at. She had relatively short blonde hair, and was well, pretty. He never had a chance to recognize her, because the last time he saw her, he was too busy trying to get to Summer.

"Oh yes I remember you! You were reading the new legion last time I saw you.." Seth pointed his finger and pressed her nose in. The booze was starting to get to him. "Wasn't the last issue, like, totally awesome?" She blushed and nodded at him.

They were now heavily flirting, exchanging glances, while grinding against each other to the music. Seth was suddenly thrust out of Anna's grasp and right into the hands of another girl.

"Hey you..." the girl slurred and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Wh-what you did for Summer at that party was like...so brave!" She took her arms off his neck and ran her hands down his chest, causing Seth to choke on his drink.

"Su-Summer, is like, a total bitch for not like, going out with you..." She grinded her hips into him. "I mean, your like so hot!" Seth was stunned at what he was hearing.

"Umm, hellooo..." Anna waved her hand in Seth's face, jolting him out of his gaze.

"What do you want bitch?"the girl glared at Anna and continued to grind with Seth.

"We were talking, before you came in slut!" Seth broke from away from the girl, and now was standing in between the two fiery chicks.

"Oh my god, Jessica! You got to him before me!" another girl joined the trio, and entwined her fingers with Seth.

"Yes I did get to him before you Meg, so back off!" Jessica shoved her fellow drunk friend.

"Okay guys, lets not do this.."Seth managed to sneak in a plea.

"Shutup geek.." Jessica slurred while angrily glaring at Meg and Anna.

"I thought you said I was hot?" Seth smirked to himself.

Before he could do anything, Jessica smacked him across the face then slugged Anna in the face. This caused all hell to break loose. Seth was on the floor in pain, while the 3 ladies fought and to Seth's amusement, rolled around. He couldn't help but smile at the fact this fight all started because of their wanting, of him.

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"Who the hell does Cohen think he is? Some kinda pimp or something..." Justin spat out then slapped a high five to one of his buddies. He had his arm wrapped around Summer's shoulder as they watched the events unfold. Everyone was now crowded around Seth and his women.

Summer couldn't keep her eyes off Seth the entire time since he arrived. From analyzing his outfit, to trying to listen in on what he was saying. She was obsessing..Something she didn't do too much...And over _Seth Cohen_! She watched as he gained all the attention from the girls, watched him dance with Jessica and flirt with all of them. In fact, she was jealous. But it didn't show, which was a relief because she had Justin. He never even noticed Summer eyeing Seth up the entire time. He was too busy flirting with other chicks to even notice it. Summer just rolled her eyes everytime a girl came up to them and started flirting with him. Even if his damn hands were around Summer, they still insisted on pining for him.

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"Okay, this is so not the way to handle this you guys..." Seth struggled to pull each girl off one another. They all had their shirts ripped and scratch marks all over their body. Anna appeared to be the worst, she had scraps of hair lying around, as well as her shirt was holding on by a thread.

"Cohen you ass!" Jessica wiped off her face and glared at him. "Your just gonna have to choose!"

_Seth's POV_

_Wait a minute...did she just say choose? No girl has ever really gave me a choice for anything...I now have 3 girls literally fighting for me and I have to choose one of them!?!? I'm either dreaming or I'm still in a coma...this is too good to be true._

Seth was left speechless, the girls stood awaiting his answer. So did the entire crowd, including Summer. She was desperately trying to hear his answer, and even went as far as smacking Justin's hand off of her, just to get a better view. She was dying on the inside. She knew Seth was a lost cause now. It took her too long to realize she wanted him, and now it was too late.

Seth took too long to reply, and the girls all stomped off in different directions, weaving their way through the crowd. Seth still had his jaw dropped as the crowd slowly began to fade away.

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"I think its safe to say that Summer is no longer an issue.." Seth sat on the edge of the bed in the poolhouse and pondered the nights events.

"You got a choice to make...And are you sure your completely over Summer?" Ryan cocked his eyebrows up and sat in a chair.

"Well, not exactly, considering none of these 3 girls could even hold a candle up to Summer..She's still the most drop dead gorgeous girl in the school.."

"So what are you gonna do.."Ryan crossed his arms and smirked at Seth.

"I don't know man...I seriously don't know..."

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"Coop! Did you see Cohen today? He like, had those skanks rolling all over each other for him..Ew!" Summer fell onto her bed and buried her head into her pillow.

"No, I was uhh..busy..." Summer shot her head up at this.

"What with that kid from Chino?" Marissa was stunned that her friend already knew she was with Ryan. " Trust me Coop, I've seen him, and he's nothing special.." Marissa rolled her eyes and quickly decided to change the subject.

"So, come Monday, Seth's going to have to make up his mind.."

"Theres not much to chose from...either skank, skank, or ummm...skank!" Summer shouted.

"Whoa calm down Sum..."

"No I won't calm down...One day, he's all geeky and neurotic and pinning for me...The next day, he's a freaking ladies man with girls pinning for _him_! Its disgusting!"

"Huh...so you have feelings for him huh?"

"What! Ew Coop! Thats like so wrong, I mean he's _Seth Cohen_!"

"You like him...You like him.." Marissa teased and then began tickling her.

"Coop stop it!" Summer cried out helplessly. "I do not like Seth Cohen.."

"Right..." Marissa stopped tickling then rolled over on the other side of the bed and dove right into another magazine. Summer meanwhile, was beginning to question herself. Could she really like Seth? No...no way. Right?

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"So where the hell were you? I couldn't find you anywhere.."Seth retorted back to Ryan, in hopes of getting the subject off him and his choice.

"Uhhh..I was uhhh busy."Ryan stuttered.

"You mean getting busy...I saw you eyeing Marissa up...Its okay, you can talk to me about it.." Seth jumped of the bed and huddled over Ryan and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"...your really starting to freak me out..." Ryan backed away and smacked his hand off.

"I'm okay with that...but really, what happened?"

"Well, you know, I sort of saw her out at the beach..and she was all alone, so we just talked then-

"-You hooked up! Man, here I am with lady problems, and you're the _Ladies Man_!" Seth interrupted.

"If you had let me finish, I would've said that all we did was kiss..there was nothing mor-

"Was there tongue?" Seth questioned with a serious face.

"I'm not gonna answer that.."Ryan dead panned.

"Fine, fine, keep it all bottled up..."Seth gestured with his hands kissing actions and Ryan couldn't keep it in any longer. He burst into a flurry of laughing fits. For a kid from Chino, he at least laughed every so often.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Sandy burst into the poolhouse in his robe and slippers. He didn't look too happy. Ryan instantly stopped laughing, and Seth finally caught the hint at Ryan's sudden quietness, and stopped gesturing.

"Busted..."Seth whispered to Ryan who was scared shitless.

**Sorry for lack of S/S but I PROMISE nxt chapter will be at scholl and they WILL talk...anyways hope you liked it and please R/R **


	12. Decision Time

**A/N: its been a while since I last posted…if u consider about a week a long time..lol..but anyways here it is..Seth's decision coming up…**

**Decision Time**

"_WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Sandy burst into the poolhouse in his robe and slippers. He didn't look too happy. Ryan instantly stopped laughing, and Seth finally caught the hint at Ryan's sudden quietness, and stopped gesturing._

"_Busted..."Seth whispered to Ryan who was scared shitless_

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Ryan looked like a deer caught in the headlights. His jaw was dropped and his eyes were bulging out of their sockets. There were so many thoughts streaming through his head. Mainly about being sent back to Chino, and with the look Sandy was shooting them, Chino seemed to be calling him.

"father…uhh hi…me and Ryan just were out to get some fresh air.."

"Save it Seth! I'm in no mood to hear your excuses..i'll deal with you two in the morning.."Sandy boomed, now sending a shriek of fear into Seth. "now get to bed!" Sandy stormed out of the room leaving the boys speechless.

"Wow…I think he may have overreacted just a tiny bit…"Seth pinched his fingers together and squinted his eyes. Ryan just gave a fake smile and nodded. He actually sort of hated Seth for making him ruin this opportunity with the Cohens. But there was no way he could of said no to Seth. He was officially a brother now, and he'd always have his back.

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Monday morning couldn't have come any sooner for Seth. His parents lashed out on him all day for disobeying them. Ryan remained silent and opted to stay in the poolhouse for the remainder of the weekend.

Sandy banned them from playstation and specially made a rule preventing Seth from bombarding the pudding. Other than that, they were expected home at decent hours. Seth chose to stay in his room, without the extra grounding from Sandy, as he had a lot to think about.

He still didn't know where he and Summer stood, and as far as the other chicks went, it _could_ be fun..but he knew in his heart he'd never care for any of them as much as he did for Summer.

"Hello mother, father.." Seth strode into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. He knew they were still pissed, but It couldn't hurt to be civil.

"well if it isn't my son the partier.."Kirsten deadpanned, then shot Seth a smirk.

"So, today is judgement day huh…don't worry son, the Cohen charm is notorious for kicking in the most crucial of times.." Sandy loosely wrapped his arm around Seth's shoulders and patted his arms. "you've got 3 ladies to choose from.."

Seth just stared at Sandy with his jaw dropped and his eyes wide. _How the hell did he know about the choice I had?_

"Ryan filled us in on your situation." Kirsten butted in and then turned to face the boys. "I always knew you were a late bloomer sweetie! My baby boy is finally becoming a man.." she squeezed Seth's cheeks together like he was a baby.

Ryan came in seemingly on cue, and Kirsten instantly released Seth's cheeks and sat back down in her seat.

"thank god man, lets go now." Seth bolted out of the room without giving Ryan a chance to question him. He turned to Sandy and Kirsten, and they both just shrugged and began chuckling to themselves, still indulged in newspapers.

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"First of all man, you don't betray the brotherly bond and tell the rents about my girl problems." Seth was ranting about Ryan informing Sandy and Kirsten about his dilemma. They were now on their way to school, and arguing back and forth.

"sorry man, it just sort of slipped out..Sandy was pressuring me to spill about what we were up to…I got intimidated by the looks he was shooting me.." Ryan blurted out.

"ahh damnit..you fell victim to the eyebrows..those little freaks of nature.." Ryan laughed and looked back out the window. Marissa was still heavily on his mind. He still had to register for Harbor, and he was already nervous about it all. The only reason he was going was to offer Seth moral support for the short ride.

"And here we are.."Seth parked the car and stepped out of the car. Ryan was now heading over to the drivers side so he could head back home.

"well, wish me luck buddy.."

"good luck."Ryan deadpanned and hopped back into the car.

"oh thank you Ryan. I can really feel the love beaming from your voice." Ryan just shook his head and smiled, then pulled away, leaving Seth to yell back after him.

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_Here we go Cohen..this is it…doomsday… I can either spend the rest of the year pinning for Summer or deem her a lost cause and pick one of the 3 ladies. They really don't deserve what I'm doing to them..i'm to nice to keep leading them on like this, so I have to make a decision…Its now or never, and frankly I'd rather have a girlfriend who I'm miserable with, than being lonely with only Ryan as a friend._

Seth casually made his way into school, and to his surprise, all eyes were on him. In a good way, not in a 'look at that emo geek' kind of way. He never even realized everyone knew about his little choice he had, he figured it all would blow away in due time. The girls actually appeared to be _blushing_ at his every move, and the water polo players were pissed as ever. But fuck them, who needs them, they wear speedos and fondle themselves by shaving each other's chests.

"Seth!" "Seth!" "Seth!" dozens of girls squealed his name, and were all tugging on his arms. Apparently, Seth Cohen was the new trend of the town.

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"God, Cohen must think he's something huh?" Summer snorted and held her books tighter and tighter to her chest. She wasn't even aware that while she was rambling, she was checking him out, from his shoes to his shirt.

"Sum, why don't you just talk to him?" Marissa asked and looked at her friend with concern. She just wanted Summer to admit her feelings for Seth and get it over with.

Summer was oblivious to what Marissa was suggesting, and just shrugged her shoulders and gave a discouraging look." Because its already too late Coop, look.." Summer pointed towards Megan, Jessica and Anna, who were already attached to Seth every step of the way.

Summer sighed as she saw Seth and the entourage approach her and head towards the cafeteria. There was still no word on who Seth chose.

She locked her eyes on Seth and gazed at him with awe. The more times she saw him, the more she was finding him irresistible. Seth met her gaze and shot her the same look. Summer blushed slightly and waved at him. He gave a cheeky grin, dimples and all, and waved right back. And then their brief moment ended quicker than it started. Seth led the group off toward the cafeteria, and Summer trudged behind looking as gloomy as ever.

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it was almost as if a private student conference was being held in the caf, everyone skipping first period class just to see the events unfold. It was very brief and too the point, a simple answer. Seth was still dumbstruck at all the attention he was gaining. The crowd settled down and awaited his answer. Most were probably only there hoping to see another catfight. Seth finally spoke up.

"Anna, your real pretty and sweet, but I think we should just be frien-" before Seth could finish, Anna smacked him. "I can do so much better than you Seth Cohen!" with that she turned on her heel, and sped out of the room. The crowd roared and Seth's face went red. He didn't like being mean, as a matter of fact, he hated disappointing or hurting people. And he was pretty sure, he hurt Anna. But he had no time to feel guilty over Anna, he had two very impatient women waiting on him. He knew for a fact the only reason they wanted him was because it seemed like the trendy thing to do these days. Since he stuck up for Summer and took a beating for her, they all suddenly saw him in a new light.

On one side, Jessica was a smoking hot blonde, but clearly that's all she was, just another pretty face. Megan on the other hand, was seemingly death in human form. She was a tough girl, obviously a scraper. She always had bruises and her lengthy brunette hair was always mopped all over the place. It would be obvious who would wear the pants in that relationship. He couldn't even think about what would happen when they broke up, probably _him_ broken up.

"uhh..Megan, I'm gonna have to go wit-.." before he could finish, he was slugged in the face with a right from the fiery Megan, she didn't even explain herself and took off. The crowd roared once again but only for a brief amount of time. The novelty of Seth Cohen was now wearing off, and they all went to their respective classrooms. Seth Cohen, was once again, Seth Cohen again. He figured Jessica was a lost cause now.

Summer, who had been lurking in the distance, witnessed it all. She waited till the crowd to completely dissolve before rushing to Seth's side, because he was once again a huge dork. The crowd was now completely gone and all that was left was Seth, Summer, and Jessica.

"oh my god! Seth are you okay?" Summer rushed to his side, while he lay on the ground holding his head.

"did anyone catch the name of that train?" Seth groggily spat out and shook his head furiously, trying to get feeling back into it. Summer giggled at his comment.

"Cohen, do you want me to get you anyth-.."

"I think I can take it from here Summer, thank you!" Jessica butted in and gave Summer a devilish smirk. She began to caress Seth's cheek, attempting to mock Summer right in front of her.

Seth on the other hand, was livid. _What the hell? Summer was actually being civil and nice to me and my dumb 'girlfriend' had to come ruin it. Was she even my girlfriend anymore? Cuz I'm pretty sure she'll run out like the rest of them._

"oh, you two…are.." Summer tried to hide the hurt in her voice, but it was pretty clear it wasn't working.

"yes. We are Summer. Now if you would excuse me, I would like to attend to my _boyfriend_!" Jessica emphasized the word boyfriend, and shot Summer another smirk.

Summer slowly nodded and rose up to her feet. She gave Seth one last look, but he was already deep in conversation with Jessica. She sighed and tugged on her books which were held close to her chest, and walked very slowly out of the café.

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Seth zipped to his classroom way across the school. Science. After parting ways with Jess, he was already way late for class. And the first official kiss Jess made him have with her was helping speed up the time.

Sure enough, Seth slowly creaked the door open, hoping the class was already indulged in an experiment, which they were. He breathed a sigh of relief, than had a mental mind slip, and slammed the door. The whole class looked up from their work to view the intruder. Seth muttered under his breath as Mr.Stewart caught a glimpse of him and was making his way towards him. The rest of the class was already back to work, all except for Summer. She was shooting him scandalous looks, which didn't go unseen by Seth. your just in time, now go join Summer and finish that experiment you still owe from last week." Mr. Stewart ordered.

Seth made his way over towards Summer, and she could literally feel her heat pounding against her chest. It was that loud and throbbing, all because of Seth Cohen! Who would've thought that? She couldn't help but examine his now appealing frame. He looked casual, well as casual as it ever got for Seth, just a novelty tee, a pair of khakis and his chuck tailors. She thought, that was his sexiest look. Dear god, did she just find Seth Cohen sexy?

"hey Sum. Now, where were we?" Seth slumped down in the chair next to her, and began examining the overdue frog assignment. Summer was too choked up for words and just remained silent.

"Sum, we gotta get this work done. I know you want Justin as your partner, and I really don't mean to impose on the two of you, but we gotta get this done!" Seth blurted out a little too angrily than originally planned.

"No, no, no, its not you Cohen. Sorry I'm so quiet, this just isn't a very good day for me.."_oh no! did I let too much slip?_

"Hmmm, and why is that Summer?" Seth quirked back instantly, putting Summer on the spot.

"Puh-lease Cohen, its got nothing to do with you, you know the whole world doesn't revolve around you!" _Phew! That was a close one, nice save Summer!_

Seth grinned and was about to respond, when he felt his phone vibrate against his pant pocket. He groaned quietly to himself and checked it. It was Jessica. Not even 2 hours of dating, and she was already the stalkerish(if that's even a word) type of girlfriend. Seth checked the message : _**meet me in the caf in 10.**_

Seth checked the time, and it was already close to the end of the period. He sighed then responded: _**okay, just let me finish my project. Cant let sum finish by herself.**_

_**Ugh! She's so..Ew!**_ Jessica messaged back, and this brought instant anger to him. Summer meanwhile, was peeking over his shoulder, taking in everything he was doing. She saw the message, and was eagerly awaiting his response.

_**What are you talking about? Sum's not ew. She's beautiful.**_ Seth instantly regretted sending the message. He knew it was never a good idea to expose hidden feelings for another girl to your girlfriend. He never had been in a relationship before, so he was bound to be a bit shaky.

Summer read his message than fell back in awe. _Aww! Cohen thinks I'm beautiful..i know I'm obsessing just a tiny bit, but he still such a sweetheart..My Cohen.._ Summer was awoken from he gaze by Seth.

"Sum I gotta go, Jess is mad at me and I gotta fix this. But don't worry, I filled most of the information out, and all you gotta do is put your name on it and it's a for sure A. don't worry about my name, if you don't have the time' to write it down I'm cool with it. I'll just take a F. I didn't deserve to be your partner anyways." Seth rambled on. "well anways, see yeah!" he shot her one last smile and took off for the teacher, making up some lame excuse to get out of there.

**Sorry. I know it may not be the best chapt, but I had to get all of that out..and sorry for not posting sooner..the comps been fucked for so damn long.**

**More drama coming up.**

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	13. The Date

**Sorry about the long wait, but here it is…I've been spending a lot of time on my other story, but I still think this one has the best potential and all, so I still keep updating. It was my first story and all, so I'd like to finish it:****J** **so anyways, sorry for the wait, and here it is…enjoy : )**

"_**Sum I gotta go, Jess is mad at me and I gotta fix this. But don't worry, I filled most of the information out, and all you gotta do is put your name on it and it's a for sure A. don't worry about my name, if you don't have the time' to write it down I'm cool with it. I'll just take a F. I didn't deserve to be your partner anyways." Seth rambled on. "well anways, see yeah!" he shot her one last smile and took off for the teacher, making up some lame excuse to get out of there.**_

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**The Date**

"Now what the hell was so important that you had to drag me out of class for?" Seth said a little too bitterly. It hadn't been more than 2 hours since they'd started going out, and already she was annoying him.

"hello to you too, boyfriend.." Jess leaped off the lunch chair and kissed his cheek. "all I wanted was to spend some time with you…." She grabbed his arm and began stroking it with her thumb.

"we have all after school for that." Seth groaned.

"speaking of which.. we're going to the movies tonight…Music and Lyrics is playing.."

"it's a school night."

"awww, but I thought it would be our first official date…"she gave puppy dog eyes and a faux sad smile.

Seth sighed then said." Fine, whatever.. I'll take you…" he rolled his eyes when she looked away.

"Yay…"she clapped her hands. "this will be the best date…EVER!" she gave him one last kiss on the cheek, then turned on her heel and walked out of the café.

_Seth's POV_

_Oh God what have I got myself into…that woman is out of her mind…She's a complete nut case! The only way this will **ever** work, is if I get her institutionalized…_

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The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly. Seth kept receiving constant messages from Jess, got pushed into a locker a record 2 times, and Summer even talked to him. The novelty of Seth Cohen had already long blown over. It was all back to normal, and he was still beside himself trying to figure out why the hell Jess was still with him. He thought for surely she'd bolt just like the rest of the student body.

"Sum! Hey girl!" Jess clapped her heels against the hallway floor, and caught up to Summer and the 'army of skanks'.

"Jess! Hey!" Summer faked enthused as the blonde enwrapped her in an unwanted hug.

"So girls, what were you talking about?" Jess joined the group.

"well Jess, we were just saying how we should all head to South Coast tonight…Paul Frank sale! Can't miss it!" Tara, one of the girls, blurted out with excitement.

"oh sorry, I can't come!" Jess gave a fake sympathetic smile.

"We never invited you.." Summer deadpanned bitterly. She had been shooting daggers with her eyes at Jess the entire time.

"hmmm.. well even so…I have a date!" She perked up, causing the rest of the skanks to swarm around her.

"Oh my god Jess!"

"Who is it"

"Do I know him?" they all asked with excitement.

"_Cohen_?" Summer's voice cracked up.

"Yes…_Cohen_, Summer…now if you'll excuse me, I have to go home and get ready.." Jess smirked at Summer and pranced out the doors.

"_Oh my god! Seth Cohen!"_

"_He's such a cutie!…But a dork."_

"_But he saved Sum's life! You all remember it. He's such a sweetheart!"_

"_Not that we'd ever say that in public!"_ They all giggled except for Summer. She was still speechless and in thought. It all finally hit her…like a big speeding train. _Cohen has a girlfriend……and it's not…me…_

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"Oh buddy! You should've seen it Ryan! The ladies were all over me!" Seth squealed as he followed Ryan around the house, babbling on about his day. " And you should've seen Summer. She was totally Jealous….God she wants me.." Seth started daydreaming and Ryan finally turned to face him.

"So, who did you choose?"

"Well, it was a tough choice…First I pegged Anna off, which by the way didn't go over too well seeing as she smacked me, then it was down to Jess and Meg, so I chose the hotter of the two, Jess, causing Meg to slug me in the face…" Seth let out a deep breath after finishing.

"Oh, that would explain the nice shiner you got there?" Ryan mockingly pointed at Seth's faded left eye.

"What can I say man, its just another battle scar."

"Since when have you been to battle?" Ryan scoffed at his remark.

"Since I became irresistible to the ladies at Harbor High…"

"Right….So what about Summer? She's completely out of the mix?"

"Well no…She can't ever be, because…well she's _Summer_." Seth answered, feeling as if he filled everything in. "Speaking of which, I better call her and apologize before I head out." Seth started for the stairs, but was stopped when Ryan spoke up.

"Wait, Wait, Wait….head out?" Ryan smirked then raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, I have a date with Jess tonight, who by the way will never come around here, because she's a total psycho!" with that, Seth ran up the stairs and into his room.

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Summer plopped onto her bed as soon she got home from school. She was having a bad day, and painfully it was because of _Seth Cohen_. So thanks to him, it defiantly looked like a Ben and Jerry's/ Valley day.

She went straight to her closet and quickly changed into boyshorts and tank top. There was no need to stay dressed up, she was in a shitty mood.

Just as she popped in The Valley DVD, her cell rang. She checked it. _Cohen._

"_God that kid sure knows how to keep twisting the knife…"_Summer thought. She decided to just screen him, and listen to what he had to say.

"_**Uhhh hi Summer…Seth Cohen here, and well I was just calling, to uhhh say that I'm sorry about today…I wish I could've stayed and so we could've finished the project together, but I had to run…but anyways, I gotta go now, I'm heading out soon, so I guess I'll ju-."**_

"-Where are you going?" Summer picked up and asked.

"Jeez Summer. You scared the shit outta me. Never interrupt while I'm rambling!"

"Whatever Cohen, where are you going?"

"why so interested?" he was smiling on the other end, and had every right to.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

"ummmm well me and Justin we going to go out, and I didn't want to run into you and have you stink up the place."

"Rigghht…well were going to the movies, but I don't really wa-."

"-Oh, you know what Cohen? My shows about to start, and here I am wasting my time talking to you, Bye!"

"Whatever you say Sum, Bye." Immediately after he finished she hung up, but kept the phone in her hand and dialed a number.

"errrmm Hello…"

"Justin, what are you doing tonight?"

"Summer…umm nothing that I'm awa-."

"Whatever, so your free then?"

"Y-yeah why?"

"Great. How do you feel about going to the movies?"

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Seth was in his room preparing for his date. He didn't change much from what he had on from school, all he did was put on a polo and kept his khakis and chuck's in tact. He sprayed some of his Hugo Boss cologne on, then made his way downstairs.

_Seth's POV_

_This should be interesting…I have to keep a chick entertained while I think about another girl…Summer's always on my mind, and tonight should be no different. Speaking of Summer, she soo wants me…_

"And there he is, Seth, the man of the hour…" Sandy shook Seth out of his thoughts, and embraced him in a manly hug.

"We're so proud of you!" Kirsten followed after Sandy, and hugged her son. Seth quizzically looked at them, puzzled as to what was up.

"Guys, Guys…I understand I'm an important person…but whats going on?"

"Ryan filled us in on your situation….. got a date huh?" Kirsten spoke with ease.

"Oh did he know….?" Seth whipped around and glared at Ryan who was sitting at the dinning table. He shrugged then raised his arms in the air.

"Which I guess forces us to lift your ground because we are such great parents!" Kirsten finished then snaked her hands around Sandy's waist.

"Sorry man, they knew something was up…the eyebrows are intimidating.." Ryan spoke but not once lifted his head to see Seth fuming. He was too busy filling out his transfer papers to Harbor High.

"Those sickening eyebrows!" Seth fumed while still being gushed upon by his parents.

"Some people see them as a form of power." Sandy defended and began stroking his eyebrows with his thumb.

"ugh! What planet are you on dad? Those things haunt peoples dreams!" they all laughed, even Sandy who was a bit hurt by Seth's comments, but quickly smirked it off when he realized Seth would grow them in one day. So in the end, the eyebrows would triumph.

"Well, this has been painfully awkward.. I'll just be going now…Later!" Seth walked to the door and opened it

"Wait Son, when are we going to meet this little firecracker?" Sandy yelled from the kitchen and grinned, knowing he was putting his son through hell.

"With that, hopefully never…now bye!" Seth walked out before he could hear anymore questioning.

_Seth's POV_

_God my parents are so embarrassing…I'm never bringing any girl home to them…maybe I can just hire fake parents for a day if I ever decide to… and what the hell is up with Ryan? He's from Chino, yet the guy continues to rat me out. And I know those eyebrows can't be too intimidating. I bet he does it on purpose, he probably enjoys watching me get humiliated…Where's the guy's loyalty?_

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"Can I have two tickets for….." Seth nonchalantly blurted out to the worker, but than looked to Jess for help.

"…..Music and Lyrics…..two tickets for Music and Lyrics…" She replied and smacked his arm playfully. "I thought you were excited?!"

"Oh I am….like you wouldn't believe…"Seth deadpanned with sarcasm. Jess just shook it off and grabbed the tickets than dragged him along.

"Suuummerrr…why do we have to go see that? It's a chick flick!" Justin exclaimed as Summer purchased the tickets.

"Shut it. I wanna go see this movie, and your taking me.." Summer had spotted Seth buy those exact tickets earlier, so she decided it would be a good movie to see too. There weren't any other motives other than that though….

Summer and Justin made their way towards the popcorn stand, where they found Seth and Jess arguing.

"Seettthh…get one popcorn so we can share!" she snaked her arm around Seth's waist. " it would be soooo romantic…"

Seth was oblivious to the points she was making, as we was already bitter at coming with her, let alone _going out_ with her in the first place.

"I need my own popcorn…I'm a hungry man woman!" Seth shook her arms off and paid for their food. Summer was grinning at the sight she saw, Cohen and Jess fighting….

Jess stormed off, not even helping carry any of the food, which pissed Seth off even more. He seriously thought about throwing hers in the trash but realized she'd probably just take his.

He sourly made his way from the stand, and headed off towards the theater door, but ran into Summer in the process. She was in line with Justin, and they seemingly were staring right at him. Each with different reasons it appeared, Justin looked at him with hate while Summer appeared to look at him with…_lust_? _Nooo she couldn't be…_

"Summer!" Seth perked up as he stopped in front of the couple. " and Justin…." He finished bitterly."

"Hey Queer." Justin snickered and bumped Seth, causing a bit of the overflowing popcorn to spill.

"Funny that you continue to call me Queer and watch me all the time, seeing as your in front of Summer, which in any case you're an idiot for not paying attention to her." Seth gathered himself together, and fixed all of the food so they were upright. "But I don't like you in that way man, as a matter of fact, I don't think anyone does. Poor Summer here," Seth stopped briefly and grabbed her shoulders and rubbed her, sending shivers through her body. " is probably just wasting time with an asshole like you."

Summer started giggling uncontrollably, and Seth's quick rising dimple-filled smile didn't help slow it down. Justin was fuming and ready to kick his ass. Seth sensed this, and decided to duck out before he got hurt.

"…..What's that Jess?" he faked like Jess called him. " Well I've gotta go, Bye Sum." He sprinted out shooting her one last grin before he entered the theater. Justin was as pissed as ever, and Summer was more determined to break Seth and Jess up.

_That defiantly didn't help with them teasing me. Justin's gonna kick my ass now, if not now, surely at school. But on a lighter note, I got Summer to smile and laugh. Even with a huge eventual price to pay, it's still worth it to see her smile. I never meant to spill all of that out right then and there, but all of it is true. Who the hell does like that ass? I hope Summer sure doesn't. he's probably just some random like always…If she doesn't like him, than who does she like?……me? nooo no way! But on the other hand, all the signs have been leading towards it. She comes to the movies all of a sudden, **flirts** everytime she's around…yes I said **flirst**. A year ago, I couldn't get her to say hi to me, and now my how the tables have turned. It's still not certain though, so I can't get ahead of myself. I have to take my battles as they come, and this movie sure as hell sounds like its going to be a war…………gulp……_

**Sorry didn't feel like fitting it all into one chapter….next chapter will be the actual movie and what happens afterward….another fight? A kiss? Who knows…lol…and I'm not quite sure why I used Music and Lyrics lol because I'm not even sure if it's a chick flick and I've never seen it in my life, but I couldn't think of any recent chick flicks so there!**

**Anyways R/R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	14. Paybacks a Bitch

**Paybacks a Bitch….**

"Seth! Over here!" Jess squealed and flagged Seth towards the corner of the theater. It was quite small, but spacious at the same time. Thanks in large part to the fact nobody ever packs into a theater for a chick flick.

Seth cursed to himself, mumbling incoherently as he made his way towards Jess. It was most likely along the lines of "why the hell am I with this twit?". He neared the isle Jess was in, when he was hit in the back with a sticky candy.

"Jackass! Sit the fuck down!" an angered chick flick fan jeered from the back of the theater. The voice was quite manly and that made Seth snicker all in its own. He made his way beside Jess, then plopped down beside her and unloaded all of the snacks.

The movie was already well into credits when Seth heard the door swing open, which caused everyone to glace back at the commotion. He spotted Summer trotting along ahead of a pissed off Justin. They sat down and joined the angered fan at the back of the theater. Seth was close enough to the back that he could visibly spot out who everyone was now. Next to Summer was Justin, Nordlund, Mark Desantes and another water polo player. All of those guys thought they were king shit of harbor.

Wow. I never knew the water polo team had a soft spot for chick flicks. That's so minty of them. Everything makes sense now. Theres a reason why they shave their chests and wear speedos…I now have ammo for future water polo attacks.

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The movie was about halfway over, when Seth noticed Jess' body slowly but surely nearing towards his. She was now practically sitting on his lap and her hand kept grazing his. Normally, this type of action would send him over the moon. But he couldn't feel the sparks from her, especially when they were in the presence of a firecracker. Summer Roberts.

The water polo team located Seth and Jess, and reverted their attention toward the couple. Mark tossed a couple popcorn kernels and a few stuck in Seth's curly hair. They snickered aloud and Seth frustratingly wiped his head to remove the kernels. He didn't feel like making a scene.

The group of course didn't take rejection to highly, so they moved one row behind Seth and leaned over their seats. Summer unwillingly followed the group and positioned her self directly in line with Seth's seat.

Seth began to get nervous with the line of jerks plus one beautiful brunette behind him.

"Hey Mark, check it out…Queer has a date.."Nordlund said and nudged Seth hard on the back. Nordlund was still pinning for Summer, so he gave her a look to catch a reaction. Nothing.

"Yeah, Jess…" Mark startled over top of Jess and breathed down on her hair. " What are you doing with Star-Wars boy over here…..come to the dark side…" Mark placed his hand on her shoulders. Seth rolled his eyes and buried his head in his hands.

What tools! Those guys seriously could make a nun swear. They're stupidity never ceases to amaze me. With their uber cheesy lines and their failed pop culture attempts…god its too painful to watch. Thank god Summer didn't laugh at all, or I'd have to seriously reconsider my love for her.

"Wow. You guys are too much. Would you mind sitting down and allowing the rest of us to enjoy the movie as much as you already do?" Seth quirked, not once lifting his gaze from the monitor.

"What are you talking about Queer?" Nordlund boomed and Seth rolled his eyes at the mention of queer. It was starting to get old. Nordlund rose from his chair a bit and glared down at Seth from behind.

"Well, you guys seem to be giving off a gay vibe because one…your at a chick flick with 3 guys and one girl, and two…" Summer laughed aloud and Seth was cut off by an angered Nordlund and Mark.

"We're not Gay!" they both said in unison causing the audience to all quietly snicker amongst themselves. Jess reassuringly put her hand on Seth's but he smacked it off, and turned in his seat to face the imbeciles.

He saw Summer and smirked at her. Once again entranced by her beauty. She gave a shy smile and her cheeks were still big and poofy from laughing.

"Right….."Seth shook his gaze from Summer somehow and turned back to face the screen. "who are the actors in it than?" Seth popped some popcorn in his mouth.

"Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant!" Mark piped out and immediately covered his mouth with his hand in embarrassment. Summer chuckled yet again, which forced a grin to pry itself back onto Seth. By now the audience was interested in what was transpiring in the back, and they too were laughing along with Summer.

"Uh Huh…."the movie came to a close already, but most the audience were still seated awaiting to watch the events unfold. "whens the DVD release?" Seth was just spitballing here, he had no clue what he was talking about.

"May 24th!" Nordlund unintentionally beamed and his face grew red.

"Thought so…." The crowd roared into uncontrollable laughter. " Well it looks like my work here is done….I better be going…this explains why you shave your chests.." Seth rose and the rest of the crowd followed suit, and made their way for the exit. Seth extended his hand for Jess to take but she just frustratingly shook her head.

Nordlund, Mark and the water polo players had already made their exit, and Jess was anxiously peering towards their direction. She sighed then began her rant.

"I thought you were different Seth Cohen, but it turns out your just an Ass! They didn't deserve that…:" she stood and left Seth in the dust speechless.

Well that came out of nowhere. Who knew she was capable of stringing that many words together.

Seth slowly turned his attention toward the exit also, but was cut off when he saw Summer standing directly behind him in the row, staring right at him.

"S-S-Summer….errrmm hi!" she always had this affect on him.

"Cohen…" She said in a childishly seductive voice. Silence fell over the two teens, as the janitor was now making his rounds in the theater.

"You….wanna go for a walk…?" Seth spoke out of the blue and trembled with his words. Summer just smiled and hugged her tiny sweater closer to her body and nodded. Seth extended his arm for Summer to take, and she giggled but quickly wrapped her arm around his wrist. Clearly chivalry isn't dead.

They exited the theater and found an unpleasant site. Jess' was practically dry humping Mark as he had his hands up her skirt and her hands were wrapped around his neck. The twosome stopped as soon as they heard the doors slam shut. Jess' face went pink in embarrassment, while Mark had a triumphant smirk.

"Who's gay now?" Mark brushed past Seth and joined Nordlund near the concession stand. Seth stood motionless and Summer saw as Mark was dragging Nordlund back over for him to see what had happened. Nordlund immediately broke into a chain of laughter, and Jess was now trying to comfort Seth.

"Looks like queer lost the girl…."Nordlund chirped out and smirked. The rest of the water polo team followed suit and laughed as well.

Seth knew he didn't love Jess, but it still hurt to see that. He blocked out the constant laughter and looked at Summer. She had a sympathetic smile on her face, and her eyes were glassy showing pity for him. Her arm was still wrapped around his arm, Seth thought by now she would've ripped it off, just to save her popularity.

As a matter of fact, the exact opposite was now happening. Summer was entwining her hands with Seth's and she gave a reassuring squeeze. But Seth was the first to pull away from this surreal gesture. He was still too hurt, and needed to get out of there. And fast.

"S-S-Summer…"he quietly spoke to her, his voice soft enough for just her to hear. " I….I-I gotta go…" without further a due, he bolted from the building before anyone could react.

**Sorry this chapter wasn't as good as I expected it to be…it turns out a lot of the planned drama was next chapter…sorry…well at least I'm aiming for next chapter! Fingers crossed! But I'm still quite pleased with the way this one turned out, and it still has drama!**

**Anyways Review Review and uh….REVIEW please.**

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	15. KO

**Its been a while since I've updated this one, but once again still enjoy writing this one a lot, and I am going to finish it…this was my first ever fic, so I want this to be the first one I finish….that's right, I'm vowing to finish this one before any of my other fics…anyways enjoy…warning: extra cheesy I belive…lol**

K.O

He didn't know exactly where he was heading, but he knew he had to get out of there. It was too painful to stay around. Its bad enough having to live with the water polo jerks every day, now they're stealing his girl? This is just to painful.

He made his way out the exit and directly towards the parking lot. As expected, it was nearly empty, save for the few cars that still lingered about from the late night movies.

It wasn't exactly that he hated everything to do with Newport, it was more he hated everyone in it. Okay, okay, so maybe not Summer, but as far as he was concerned, the rest could all go to hell.

When he first started dating Jess, it never involved any physical attraction and sure as hell personal attraction. Jess had to be by far the dumbest girl in Newport, if ever that title needed to be crowned, she'd be the clear victor. Anything that could ever possibly attract someone to her, it could _only _be her looks. Which is yet another question amongst the piles and piles of them as to why in the hell she's dating him?

Seth gently lowered himself to the dusty pavement and kneeled against the building billboard. It was a movie promotion, which in other words was another reminder as to why he was out here in the first place. It was your typical California evening, slight breezes but still humid air. The cold breeze was refreshing against his pale skin. He pushed his hair out of his face then planted his hands on his face and distraughtly groaned into his hands.

A few feet away, the mall doors flung open and out came Nordlund, Mark, Jess, Justin and nearly half the water polo team following. Summer also followed behind, though she was well away from the fellow Harbor classmates.

Seth hid his face even more in his hands, hoping the teens would just walk right by him and not recognize him. He heard footsteps approaching him, and also laughter filled conversation. Seth just figured Nordlund cracked one of his lame jokes and now everyone was just agreeing with him and laughing, so that they don't get a beating.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't lover boy…."_**Shit…**_ Mark piped up above the crowd and froze in front of Seth, causing his 'entourage' to stop and join him. Seth peeked through his fingers and came across the one thing he had been dreading. The group of kids had now surrounded in loose circle around Seth. Seth pried his hands away from his face and finally looked up at the bunch. He shifted his gaze around the group, in hopes of finding Summer, and he did. She was still far behind the group, but she was staring right back at Seth with a look of worry and fear. Seth even spotted that she now had an extra bounce in her step.

"What do you want…" Seth groaned and looked anywhere but the teens before him. He was hoping Summer would catch up to them, and fast. At least he'd have someone on his side. Though it wasn't official or anything, but he'd at least have someone _semi_ on his side.

"Hey Queer, you mind if I take your girl home with me tonight? Seeing as staying here won't exactly fill our needs…if you know what I mean…"Mark wrapped an arm loosely around Jess and she just leaned into his embrace. Seth always knew she was the slut of Harbor, he only dated her in hopes of getting over Summer…Which by the way, failed miserably. Speaking of Summer, where is she?

Seth darted his eyes away from the crowd and spotted his favorite brunette now situated beside Nordlund, but not too close that it looked like they knew each other.

"Hey queer! I said do you mind if I take your girl home and bang her?" Seth was awoken from his thoughts and Mark snickered at his comment, causing his posse to do the same.

**These guys seriously need a new vocabulary. I mean queer? Fag? Geek? Gotta admit getting a bit old…Mark's just a pansy and always will be. It was quite funny how subtle he was in stating his intentions with Jess. CoughSlutcough**.

Seth grew silent and it only seemed to fuel the fire that was the water polo's confidence in ruining Seth Cohen's life. Summer hadn't said a word the entire time, she was no where near Justin, considering he was among the ones taunting Seth, so I guess it wasn't that big of a surprise. But still she had the most intense look on her face, and her big puffy brown eyes were staring at him with so much passion and fear all at the same time. Her tiny frame looked to be shivering and she was furiously clinging onto her tiny sweater draped over her shoulders. Seth mentally slapped himself for not bringing a bigger sweater for himself for her to wear. It was blown chances like these, when he'd never be able to call Summer his.

"Seth…..I..I just wanted to let you know how sorry I-…"

"-Oh please, you are so full of crap its ridiculous…" Summer finally chimed in and spoke up, interrupting Jess and leaving her a bit pissed off.

"Ah! Excuse me!" Jess held her hand to her chest and her jaw dropped open in disbelief.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about…Your too stupid to realize what a good thing you have…or _**had**_…" Summer paused and looked over at Seth. " He's a good guy and I….I…I've just had enough of everyone ripping him apart for being a nice guy…" Seth's jaw dropped in awe of Summer. In the process, adding reason number 149903 why to like Summer.

You've got to be kidding me Sum, I mean look at him…He's the biggest dork in the school…" Summer blanked out of what Jess was saying and took a long hard look at Seth. She remembered the party where she first really _met _him. Or more like finally acknowledged him. She clearly remembered him taking the beating of a lifetime for her, the look in his eyes whenever he watched her, and how all of this had been right in front of her all along, yet _she_ was too stupid to realize it. She looked into his eyes and immediately knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted him.

"-and you know Sum he's like totall.." And without further a due, Summer didn't hesitate one moment, and she smacked Jess across the face with a fierce slap. Gasps and shock filled the air around the tiny circle, and most of the water polo players already were whipping their cell phones out, in hopes of some sort of Girls Gone Wild resemblance.

"OOOOH!" The trio of guys consisting of Nordlund, Mark and Justin roared out. Justin was among the guys reaching for their cell phones, meanwhile it was him who should've been scared shitless right now.

Jess staggered backward and nearly tripped over Seth, who was still planted on the ground. But he quickly rose to his feet and his jaw was still dropped from Summer's little declaration speech-ish talk she had. Her slapping Jess still hadn't been processed yet.

Jess stumbled back over to Summer and broke into a flurry of slap attacks, flailing her hands around in any direction, hoping to catch one across Summer. She finally did and she immediately clung onto a chunk of Summer's hair and she quickly tugged back on it. Summer shrieked.

Seth stood up and approached the girls. He had had enough of this, but clearly the other guys hadn't. They were still heavily into taping the catfight. Seth loosely reached a hand in between the two girls, and succeeded in separating them. He pried Summer away from Jess, and she was fuming. He held tightly onto her waist and buried his head into her shoulder and whispered sweet nothingness into her ear. He pinned her against the wall, trying to act as a shield and also a barrier between the two girls. No one had yet to calm Jess down. Summer had landed loads of smacks, slaps, punches you name it on Jess, and even managed to walk away with pieces of hair still attached to her nail beds. Jess on the other hand, landed a sole punch, to the right of Summer's cheek and it was quickly starting to bruise.

He couldn't quite make out what all the commotion was behind him, nor did he really care. Especially since he was in this position with Summer. Her back pressed against the brick wall and her face was inches away from his chest, and he was pressed up against her as tightly as possible. He felt hits and smacks here and there, presumably from Jess, that was until someone managed to land a hard blow directly to his spine. Seth released his hold on Summer, and turned slightly to see who punched him.

"Let the bitches fight…" Mark yelled out, causing any remaining people in the parking lot to look and stare. Mark clenched his fists into a tight ball and glared at Seth.

"Sorry, no can do…Are you a boxer…I mean you just ummm, look like the boxer-type, seeing as you got your fists all clenched and all…but I was just a wil..-" Seth's rambling was cut short thanks to punch to the face from Mark. And in a very Seth Cohen reaction, he hit the ground.

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Seth opened his eyes, he was still dazed and confused as to what was going on. He looked around at his surroundings and found his answer. He was in a dark and empty parking lot, leaned up against the outside wall of the theater, and his arms wrapped around something. He shook off any remaining paranoia and glanced down at his arms. Summer…

She was all curled up in a ball, and almost her entire body was positioned on top of Seth. He gently shook her, and she awoke instantly and glanced back up at Seth, with smile pierced on her lips.

"Hey sleepyhead…" she kept her smile and pressed remained in his arms. She never even realized that he had slept the entire time leaning against the wall, while she got her beauty sleep.

"Did I fall asleep?" Seth exclaimed stunned that he could ever fall asleep in the middle of an empty, dark and not to mention scary parking lot.

"Well, I mean, you got put to sleep…" She giggled and Seth playfully tickled her briefly, but cut it short in hopes of getting some answers." Remember….Mark…Jess…You getting punched? Falling to the ground? Me sitting your ass up so you don't get like, brain damage?" Summer rambled on and on about her troubles that night, and Seth could do nothing but smile. This was the girl he always knew was there.

"I'm sorry Summer…but boy they're lucky I fell…cuz If I didn't….phew! there would be some hell to pay…I'd give them a little bit of this…a little bit of that…" Seth gestured and mockingly moved his arms in punching motions and Summer just scoffed at him at first, but broke into a flurry of laughter.

"Hahahaha right Cohen….." To Seth's dislike, Summer rose from laying on top of him and shifted her arms around in her purse. Seth saw her face for the first time, and spotted her face bruising up and he quickly grew mad. " Whats the matter Cohen?" Summer also noticed the change in his mood.

"Its just…your face and all…and how they tried to-"

"-Cohen, trust me its fine…I should be going home anyway, I'll clean it up then…" She nervously glanced at Seth and fiddled with her fingers. "WouldYouMaybeWannaComeToMyHouseAndWatchAMovie?" Summer shot out, it wasn't like her to be nervous in front of a boy, but something about Seth was different. Plus she didn't quite no where he stood with Jess, so she didn't want to rush into things.

"Slow down my little NASCAR princess, could you repeat that?" Seth playfully patted her on the head. Summer rolled her eyes, then sighed and gulped as she prepared to ask her question.

"Do you want to come over and maybe…I don't know no…watch a movie…Keep me company after all it is your fault I look like this!" She finished confidently and pointed towards her face.

"That you look like what? Beautiful? I'm sorry but that's all you…" Seth rose to his feet and didn't see Summer blush. "And I'd love to come over…"he reached a hand down to pull her up, and she gracefully allowed him to pull her up. She already felt embarrassed enough so she was the first to make a dash for the car, Seth on the other hand was busy processing everything.

**Who's got a date with Summer Roberts? Seth Cohen does! Yeah! Who gives a rats ass that I spend more time talking to myself then I do with others….I got a date with Summer, and you don't!!!!! Nah Nah Nah! Okay, Okay, its not exactly a date, but her actions cause me to think it is…**

"Are you coming or what Rocky?" Summer mockingly threw a few fake punches in the air and Seth just laughed to himself and shook his head.

"Right behind you Summer…"

**That to me was really really cheesy….but I felt it needed to be done…the other chaps have kinda been angsty and full of drama but that's just how I write…but every so often I manage to pull off some romantic stuff like in this, even though there was no kissing or nothing, still sparks! Gotta give me props for that..**

**REVIEW PLEASE…I write better when I know people are enjoying my story: )**

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	16. Sound Asleep

Chapter 16 Sound Asleep 

"Jesus Summer, slow down your going to get us both killed!" Seth gripped onto the door handle with his life, his seatbelt was already suffocating him it was so tight.

"You told me my face looked beautiful! But look at it!" Summer was flipping out because of the increasing bruise on her cheek.

"Yes I did…and you do.." Seth concentrated on the road ahead and didn't bother looking over at the Summer who was shooting deadly glares back at him.

"You ass…my face looks like a freaking grape!" Summer angrily swerved in and out of lanes well over the speed limit.

"Umm…well in that case you're my little plump grape.." _Wait a minute…Oh shit! Doesn't 'plump' mean…_

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT SETH COHEN!?!?" _…fat…_

"No, no, no, no, no Summer…you got me all wrong see I worded that wrong…" Seth looked over at Summer who was no where near paying attention to the road. No Summer was more concerned with her being fat then her own life right now. "Uhhhh Summer I'd appreciate it if you'd concentrate on the road Sum, don't wanna get us killed now…" Seth took an attempt at comedy to lighten the mood. Judging by Summers looks, it didn't work.

"Not necessarily _US_ Cohen…But you on the other hand…" She reached a blind hand across Seth's body, grazing his chest. "I could care less…" She grabbed onto the passenger side handle.

"Oooh frisky are we?" Seth was oblivious to Summer's intentions.

"Not in the least…" Summer flung the door open, causing a rush of wind to swirl into the car, and Seth's skinny body wormed out of his seatbelt and flew out of the car. He rolled into the ditch and crashed into a sign.

"Oh shit! Seth!" Summer screamed back at Seth's limp body and she pulled the car over to the side of the road. She sprinted back towards Seth even with her heels on, and she made pretty decent time, because she was already there.

"Oww! Whats your problem woman!" Seth moaned out and held onto his forehead. Summer breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Seth rambling on and on like usual, leading her to believe nothing was wrong. "First I go into a coma, and now I get thrown out of speeding cars? I have a bad feeling I'm going to be a crash-test dummy when I get older.." Seth grimaced at the thought of having pain inflicted on for a career.

"Well you weren't supposed to fall out Cohen! I thought you had your seatbelt on? I was only joking around.." Summer smiled when she saw Seth desperately swiping away at his head trying to somehow heal the bruise. I guess that's what happens when you fall out of a car and land flat on your face.

"Ha-Ha Summer…Good joke.." Seth deadpanned, causing Summer to break into a fit of giggles. " With your comedy, your for sure going to be the next Jim Carrey…" Summer smacked his arm.

"C'mon Cohen, lets go…"

"Ouch woman!" Seth rubbed his arm. "I guess there's defiantly no way today can be Seth Cohen Appreciation Day…" Seth reminisced all of his injuries that day and concluded that it certainly was not a good day for him.

Summer only smacked him again and made her way back towards the car, shaking her head and laughing. Seth watched her closely as she headed back to the car.

That woman is going to kill me one of these days. Either all of the smacks I receive from her are eventually going to wear me down, or I'll get hit by a car or something..its going to happen…But on the other hand…Never before have I been more attracted to someone beating on me, that's a title owned exclusively by Summer…Certainly not any of those damn jocks…hahaha…those jocks that enjoy chick flicks! Oh boy I'm going to rip on them at school…That is, if I live to make it to the next day of school.

"COHEN! COME ON!" Summer honked the horn and screamed out the window. Seth was still sitting in the ditch. He quickly rushed to his feet.

"Coming! Jeez, don't I get at least a few minutes to recover from being hurled out of a car?" Seth barked back but clearly Summer didn't hear all of it. He just shook his head and limped back to the car.

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"If you touch anything Cohen I swear I'll skin you alive.." Summer entered the house with Seth following closely behind. She slammed the door shut in realization that her father was once again not home. Its one of the reasons Seth was over in the first place, she was tired of being alone…Well, that and the fact she wanted to spend some time with him.

"Oooh, pillow talk already Sum?" Summer turned around and shot daggers at Seth with her glares. "Point taken…." Clearly she was in no mood for the comedic performance that was, Seth Cohen.

"So, I figured we'd just watch a movie in my room…."Seth's jaw dropped when he heard what she said, his mind was racing to one thought.. "Because..you know…there's a washroom in there so you can clean up your cuts.." Summer made her way up the stairs, and Seth whipped his shoes off and followed closely behind her, still with only one thought racing around his head.

"I wonder how many skeletons you got in your dungeon of a room…" Seth raced past Summer and they brushed bodies for a brief second. Summer stopped to take in everything that happened, meanwhile Seth was preoccupied with seeing Summer's room.

He sprinted into the room and halted in front of the bed. He peered around the room and it was a very _Summer_-esque type of room. It was all pink and flowery, with The Valley posters covering the walls and celebrity magazines scattered everywhere. Seth walked over to her CD collection and just as expected, was filled with Top 40 hit music CD's and of course old faded boy band and pop star music. Seth grimaced, he was totally opposite. He couldn't stand mainstream Top 40 hits, he was more of a underground music type of listener.

Seth wasn't aware that Summer had entered the room and was observing his every move. She just leaned against the doorway and folded her arms as she watched Seth inspect her room. Of course, him thinking that he was alone, went straight for the closet. He found the laundry basket and scooped up a pair of her black lingerie. He held them up and millions of images rushed through his mind. Mainly the day that he'd actually see her in lingerie.

"Ahem…" Summer interrupted Seth's fantasy dream and coughed. He whipped his head around to find Summer hold some DVD's and she had a smug grin. "Now that your done going through my panties…let's watch a movie.." Summer walked towards the TV and plopped a DVD in. Seth remained frozen and was blushing like crazy. He realized he still held the lingerie in his hand and quickly dismissed them to the floor and went over to join Summer by the TV.

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Seth felt really out of place in her room. He didn't know whether to sit on the bed, floor or whatever. So he just opted to remain standing while Summer tidied up her room. The DVD was paused while Summer was preparing her room, for what….Seth didn't know.

"That reminds me, I better clean my face up.." She spoke aloud and rubbed her cheek for what seemed like the millionth time that night and she made her way toward the bathroom.

"Whoa, whoa.. Hold it right there…" Seth dashed toward the door and stood in front of it, bringing Summer to a halt in the process. "I better use it first…Seeing as I have multiple injuries Sum…I got thrown out of a car and punched in the face all in one day…I deserve to use it!" Seth stated confidently and stood with his arms crossed.

"Cohen, to a person like me…beauty is everything…Now you on the other hand know what its like not to be beautiful, but me? I don't…So move it!" Summer sneaked around Seth and made a beeline for the bathroom. She slammed it shut on Seth, and locked it, with him pounding away.

"It's called _handsome_ Sum! That's what I am!" Seth yelled in defense and stood outside of the bathroom. Summer sprung the door open, smacking Seth on the nose and sending him stammering backward.

"I should give you the bathroom first Cohen…" She looked at Seth holding his nose and yelling insults. "Seeing as your more of a girl than me…But no! No other guy I know gets hurt more than you Cohen…" She shut the door and proceeded to begin pampering herself.

"What! I'm fragile!" Seth yelled back and headed back into Summer's room. He just decided to find a towel or something to clean up his cuts rather than wait for Summer to finish up. Finding a towel, meant another adventure into her closet. Seth's mind went on overdrive when he thought of all the other 'outfits' of Summer's he could find.

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He heard the door click open and immediate rushed out of the closet, thus ending his trip to his fantasy place which involved Seth and Summer sailing to Tahiti with her in lingerie. There's a reason it was called a fantasy, because it was a long shot of happening.

"There you are Cohen…Ready to watch that movie?" Summer strode out of the bathroom and appeared by the doorway. Seth's jaw dropped when he saw what she was wearing. Sure it looked quite simple to her, just boyshorts and a tank top and her hair was tied in a ponytail, but this was a treat for Seth. He'd have to keep a mental picture of this for later.

"Y-Y-Y-Yep!" Seth stuttered out and tripped on his words while he gazed at Summer. She was just grinning to herself but still managed to start the DVD and she plopped down on the bed. Seth watched her and instantly saw she managed to cover up the bruise on her face. Her complexion was completely flawless, not a single mark in site. She was beautiful.

"I figured we could watch Spiderman 2, because its got a true love story for me and all of that nerdy comic book stuff for you…" Summer smirked at Seth and he rolled his eyes.

"Thank god, I thought you were going to make me watch some cheesy chick flick…I've already seen one today, and I don't think I could stand another…" Seth breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not this time Cohen…"

"Oh really? And when will the next time be Summer?" Summer froze and Seth was grinning from ear to ear. He was beginning to figure her out.

"Lets just watch the movie…" Summer's face was red and she was blushing like crazy, she really didn't want Seth staring at her and grinning like an idiot.

Summer spread out across the bed and rested her head on hands. She had her legs kicked up in the air as she watched the movie. Seth broke from his staring and once again felt awkward. He didn't know where to sit, there was either her couch, the floor or right beside Summer on the bed. He wanted so badly to try the latter but he was afraid of scaring her or that he'd do something he'd regret later. He unwillingly plopped down on the floor directly in front of the TV.

Summer frowned when she saw Seth sit on the floor. Did he not catch any of the hints she was throwing at him? She even left enough room for him on the damn couch! The previews were rolling through the screen and Summer was preoccupied with finding a way for Seth to join her on the bed. She laughed when she realized what she was doing. Trying to seduce Seth Cohen…This certainly wouldn't have been happening a year ago.

"Cohen, it looks uncomfortable on the floor..Come up here.." Summer tried to act nonchalant about it, and hoped she didn't sound too desperate.

Seth peaked over the end of the bed and gazed up at Summer. He smirked at her for a second but proceeded to go back and watch the movie.

"Naw its okay, I'm fine.." Summer frowned again and thought of another way not to sound desperate, but all that was coming to her was dragging him up on the bed. She quickly thought of an excuse and smirked to herself when she realized how evil it was.

"Whatever you say Cohen, but I warn you that your sitting in the spot where I always throw up after parties…" Summer watched as Seth sprung to his feet and dove over top of the nightstand and onto the bed. He quickly joined Summer in sprawling across the bed and watching the movie.

"That's what I thought…But I was just joking Cohen!" Summer laughed out loud and Seth remained silent while she was on her little giggle fit.

"That was soooooo funny Sum." Summer looked up from the TV and flung an arm threw the air, catching Seth on the back. Seth rubbed his back and took that as his answer to shut up.

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During the entire movie, Summer was inching towards Seth, and now that the movie was almost over, her body was right next to Seth and neither seemed to notice nor care. Seth yawned and shot his arms in the air. He sort of forgot where he was and before he knew it, he was reaching for under the covers and he crawled inside. He shut his eyes and rested his head on the pillow and dozed off. Summer looked over and watched him slowly fall to sleep and grinned to herself.

She too crawled under the covers and instantly hovered over towards Seth and crammed her body against his. She rested her head on his chest and his arm wrapped around her. She placed her arm across his chest. She felt his chest and could feel his slim build and abs. That was a surprise. She grinned furiously to herself until she eventually found herself closing her eyes and falling to sleep.

Seth was ecstatic! He couldn't believe what was happening. This was better than his fantasy. He was in bed with Summer Roberts, and she was even cuddling up with him. He was only hoping that in the morning she wouldn't get delusional like she acts at school and think that he tried to take advantage of her or something. It was such a risk to crawl into her bed, but now he was over the moon happy about his decision.

He could feel Summer's hand roaming his body and his grin grew even bigger(if possible). It felt just like he imagined it would being in bed with her, relaxing, soothing, and damn good. Seth lightly began stroking a few fingers through her hair and he too started to doze off again and close his eyes.

He fell asleep with a huge smile plastered all over his face, so did Summer.


	17. Forgetting and Accepting

**The Joy in Forgetting/ The Joy in Accepting**

Friday morning came a lot sooner than either teen wanted. Seth knew that many questions were going to be answered today. He had no clue where he and Summer stood anymore, and definitely didn't know what was going on with Jess. He should be pissed at her for cheating on him, but there was a tiny, tiny bit of him that knew she deserved a chance to explain. It was the least he could do.

Summer knew that the ball was in her court now. Her actions at school would be the deciding factor on whether or not she and Seth are a couple. So it was either her popularity or Seth. A few years ago, such a question would be ridiculous. But now, so many things had changed.

Seth shot his eyes open and peered around his surroundings. Summer's body was pressed tightly against his, her hands were positioned on various parts of his chest, and her legs were entwined with his. He definitely needed a minute or two to process all of this information.

Then almost on cue, Summer's tiny body began to stir and she gradually started to wake up. Seth remained quiet, and just watched everything unfold. Summer stretched her arms out blindly and yawned, but her eyes remained closed.

Summer's stretching and yawning came to a complete and sudden stop. She froze instantly and shot her eyes open. She glanced up slightly at Seth, he could only give an uneasy grin.

"Good Morning Sum…" Seth nervously smiled. Her head was still rested on his chest and her legs were still locked with his.

Summer didn't say a word, but at the same time didn't move away. She just kept her gaze on Seth and slowly her lips formed into a small pleasant smile.

"….Morning Cohen…" Summer whispered but kept her gaze. She only had to whisper seeing as her face was inches way from his.

"We better get up, we got school…" Summer spoke softly.

"Yes we do…"

"Yeah…."Summer started to fidget around in the bed, but made no move to get up.

"So how did you sleep?" Seth broke the awkwardness.

"Good….you?"

"Good…"

"We better get ready for school.." Summer slowly slipped her body away from Seth, and peeled her legs away from his. She slowly made her way to her bathroom and closed the door. The second the door shut, Seth breathed a sigh of relief.

He searched the ground for his clothes and began rummaging through them to find his cell. He definitely needed to call home and at least notify them he was still alive.

Ring Ring Ring 

"Hello…"

"Ryan! Buddy, hows it going?"

"Where the hell are you?"

"Oh, you know……_Summer's_"

"Well Kirsten and Sandy already left and I told them that you went in early…"

"Thank you Ryan, thank you, thank you.."

"Okay, okay that's enough…"

"I swear when I get home, I'm giving you the biggest hug ever."

"You better not or I _swear _I'll punch you. Definitely don't try anything at school or I'll be forced to kill you."

"That's what every brother likes to hear….Hey wait, your going to school?"

"Yeah my registrations completed…"

"Sweet! Today could not be any better…Waking up next to Summer, then finding out your going to school!"

"Yay…" Ryan deadpanned.

"See you at school man!" Seth closed the phone, then fell back softly onto the bed. He could not wipe the smile off his face.

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The entire car ride to school was scorched in silence. Summer never once took her eyes off the road, which was probably good thing seeing as they didn't want a repeat of the night before, and Seth could not wipe the smile off his face.

Things were finally looking up for him. As of right now, he had Ryan now attending Harbor and it appeared that he had the girl, Summer Roberts, as his girlfriend…?

He wasn't quite sure what they were anymore, but it was almost certain _friends_ was out of the question. There was no way he'd be able to handle spending a whole night with her, in the same bed no less, and come out of it only being her friend. No. For the first time ever, Seth Cohen clearly knew what he wanted, Summer.

Sure he always _wanted_ Summer, but this time he felt she was actually attainable. The only thing that appeared to be standing in his way was Summer's insecurities and her love for _popularity._

"Hey Sum, I just wanted to talk to you about last ni-"

"Oh look! We're here! Bye Cohen!" Summer slammed on the brakes and bolted from the car. Seth watched as she shielded her face with her book and quickly entered the building.

I guess that was his answer. Summer wanted nothing to do with him, at least at school. If she still expected him to be at her call 24/7, but only in _private_, boy was she wrong.

Seth quickly snapped out of his neurosis and got out of Summer's car before anyone spotted him in there. It was the least he could do, grant Summer's wishes of not being seen within a foot of him.

"Seth!" Ryan yelled across the schoolyard, drawing even more attention to him. As if enough people were already talking about him.

"Ryan…hey…" Seth quickly trotted across the parking lot and joined him. Ryan held out a hand to greet him.

"Pssh…Please we hug it out like brothers man…"Seth shook his hand then enveloped Ryan into a semi hug.

"….That's not embarrassing…" Ryan made a disgusted face and frustratingly wiped his clothes to remove any Seth "germs".

"Hey man, we're brothers…."

"Well _brother_, your not exactly making my first day go by smoothly…They already know I'm some bad boy outsider, and now what are they gonna think?" 

"Jeez man…Chill…Its not like yelling across the school like a 6 yr olds bringing any positives to your already beaming stature…And they probably think your mentally unstable.."

"Well I guess it rubs off." Ryan turned and headed for the school entrance.

"That was not cool man!" Seth hurriedly rushed after him.

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"So what's up with you and Marissa man? Are you dating? Are you friends?"

"I don't know man…She's got some things to sort out…I mean there's this guy, she might be back together with him so I do-"

"-Luke.." Seth began piling his books out of his bag and into his locker. Ryan threw his books into the locker beside Seth because, well its Seth, and there is bound to be an empty locker near him.

"Yeah, Luke…So I just got to let her sort things out."

"Dude, no offense but I think that's a bad idea, you've gotta be straight forward with her…Tell her what you want to be, and force the issue…"

"Like there are no issues with you Seth?"

"Actually, there are none…"

"You and Jess?"

"Friends…Actually wait, she cheated on me, so I'd say acquaintances."

"You and Summer?" Ryan slammed his locker shut and looked at Seth for an answer. Seth froze on the spot and searched around the halls. He found Summer leaning against a vending machine talking to Justin, Nordlund, Brad and a few water polo players. There were also some Newpsie's In-Training nearby.

"Well I'll just have to find out won't I?" Seth shut his locker, turned and left Ryan to choke on his words.

"Why hello Summer…" Seth casually snuck between a few water polo guys and peaked his head into the group.

"What are you doing Queer?" Brad angrily spat out. He felt he was making progress with Summer, and geekboy had to come and ruin it.

"Oh I'm here to talk to the vending machine…No dumbass I'm here to talk to Summer…" He grabbed onto Summer's hand and pulled her out of the group.

"Cohen! What are you doing your making a scene!" Summer hissed and frantically tried to escape Seth's grasp, but he held on tight.

"I need to know where I stand. I mean are we going out or what? We can't just spend that night together and say we're friends.."

"SHHH! Shut it Cohen!" Summer covered his mouth in a heartbeat with her hand, than gave another one of her million dollar _fake_ smiles to the passing students to show everything was fine.

"Where you stand geek, is 6 feet under.." Nordlund chimed in and shook a fist in Seth's face.

"Dude you can't _stand_ 6 feet under, you _lie_ moron…" Seth rolled his eyes at their stupidity than focused his attention back on Summer. "So?"

Summer gulped and looked around her. There were several eyes gazing at her expectantly for an answer. She looked at Seth and tried to search his eyes. All she could see was anticipation, hope and excitement. In any other circumstance, that would be enough for her to give in to Seth's cuteness and kiss him all over. But now, there were other things at stake. Should she risk it all, popularity, friends, her school life, just to be with Seth Cohen? And what would happen if it didn't work out? She wouldn't have her popularity, friends and school life to run to. She'd be stuck. Completely stuck.

So no, it was too much of a risk. As much as it will hurt to crush Seth, giving up her current lifestyle was too much.

"Umm 'So'?! What do you mean 'So'? You do my science work and write all my papers! That's what's up…Eww Random!" Summer waved a hand dismissively at Seth and walked down the hall. As soon as she turned the corner, she ran out the side doors and straight to her car. Not once looking back, she buried her head in her hands as she ran. If one was close enough to her, they most likely would find tears streaming from her perfectly aligned face.

"Move along geek…" Justin shoved Seth away from the group, then proceeded to continue on basking in his glory of being a water polo players with the rest of them.

Seth frustratingly stomped back toward an awaiting Ryan. He wasn't going to cry. It was far from it actually. He was just pissed off. Fed up with everything Summer was doing, he was tired of all the mixed signals she was sending.

"I take it that didn't go very well.."

"Guess that's my answer.." Seth had his head lowered and made no attempt to look at Ryan. Ryan just gave a sympathetic smile and put an arm on his shoulder and guided Seth off to class.

As far as Seth was concerned, all he wanted to do was completely _forget_ Summer. Just totally wipe her out of his brain. Unfortunately, such a task seemed merely impossible, but it was worth a try…wasn't it?

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Summer sped down the highway, occasionally bating away unwanted tears. It was becoming too painful to continually reject Seth on a regular basis. She definitely needed to set things straight with him. It wasn't Seth's fault. She knew he had honorable intentions. He only wanted to know where they stood as far as a relationship went. She couldn't entire blame him, only for confronting her and bringing up their issues at school, and nonetheless in front of all the students!

But the point is, Seth won't wait around forever. As she said before, the ball was entirely in her court. There is no denying the feelings she has for Seth, it certainly isn't that of friendship status. She knew for a fact the feeling was mutual, seeing as Seth apparently had been pining for her his entire life.

Was it finally time to face facts? Summer Roberts, home coming queen, most desirable girl in Harbor, likes _Seth Cohen_?

Yes, Summer had to _accept _the fact that she indeed, liked Seth a lot…

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"Girls are dumb." Seth pouted as he stirred around his food and smothered its contents everywhere on his plate. It was only lunchtime, and he was still rambling on about Summer's selfishness and how stubborn she was. Unfortunately for Ryan, he was the unlucky winner of the 'Endure Seth Cohen Rambling' contest.

"Don't worry man, I think she'll come around.."

"How could you be so calm? You should be like me, pissed off at the world, considering you're basically in the same situation as me…"

"Not exactly…See Marissa and me …Uhhh….Kind of have plans tonight." Ryan immediately shoved food in his mouth, hoping he didn't come off too excited.

"Great…Just great.."

"You can come if you want…I mean its just me and Marissa, we're heading up to LA for the day. Probably going to have dinner and maybe catch a Lakers game.."

"Basketball? You mean with all the shooting, dribbling and the overall athleticism? Nah I think I'll pass"

"C'mon man!"

"Nope…" Seth stood up and picked up his tray. "I'm in mourning Ryan. I'm too depressed to do anything."

"But I thought you said you weren't going to cry?"

"…Shut up.." Seth stormed away from the cafeteria and Ryan just chuckled at the sight than carried on eating.

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"Seth!" Seth turned around to find a blonde girl busily waving for his attention. He stopped in his tracks, and headed back to join the girl.

"Hey….Amanda isn't it?" She smacked him playfully on the face.

"Allison?" _Smack_

"Alex?" _Smack_

"Amy?" _Smack_. He could tell the girl was growing impatient, as the smacks were beginning to grow harder. He knew it started with an 'A'…

She impatiently tapped her foot as Seth frantically searched his mind for the girls name. After a while she grew tired of waiting.

"ANNA!" She finally belted out and Seth snapped his fingers.

"I knew it started with an 'A'"

"So did you read the new Hawkeye comic?" Seth gave a quizzical look.

"Yes I did, and I'll tell you my problems with it…Wait a minute, you read comics?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? I told you at that one party."

"But your like a girl…"_Smack_ " Jesus Woman! Calm down, you're almost as worse as-…" Seth trailed off.

"_Summer_?" Seth confusedly stared at her. " I heard about your little situation with her."

"Enough about her…Its only going to make me more angry, I cannot believe you read comics."

"Yeah well, if you had picked me instead of Jess you would've known…" That's where he knew her from. How could he have overlooked that? How many girls at Harbor read comic books for crying out loud? He now fully remembered her, she told him but he was too busy to listen. Considering he had been searching the beach for the Summer. It was the same night he got the living shit beaten out of him.

Anna and Seth carried on, chatting away about random things that came to mind. The bell finally rang, signaling the end of lunch, and Anna turned to leave.

"Wait…"Seth sighed and took a deep breath. There was no use moping around, waiting for Summer to come to her senses. He was tired of playing cat and mouse with her. Maybe it was finally time to move on.

"What are you doing tonight?"

Okay so that wasn't exactly my 'favorite' chapter, but nonetheless it needed to be done. It was only not my favorite because it was a lead-on towards the next chapter. I'm still satisfied with the way it turned out, so I hope you still read and REVIEW

Next…Romance heats up at ball game, Summer confronts her fears, a fight? No…not another one!


	18. Kiss for the Camera

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Not The O.C, not the Lakers, not the Knicks…Nothing!**

**Kiss for the Camera**

'Dude come on! LA's not coming to us!' Seth hopped in the passenger side of the range rover and yelled out the window.

'I thought he wasn't excited about LA?' Marissa whispered and Ryan just shook his head at the sight before him.

'He wasn't. But I guess he's coming now. Better get him out of the passenger side. There's no way he's pestering me the whole drive' Ryan grabbed onto Marissa's hand and squeezed it as they made their way down the driveway to Seth.

Marissa opened her mouth to respond but was cut off. 'Seth, get the hell out of the passenger side.' Ryan boomed as he walked around the car and entered the drivers side.

'Right. Forgot you two need to have your mandatory car ride handholding session, be extremely cute and stare into each other's _sparkling_ blue eyes.'

'Don't ever say _sparkling_ again Seth..' Marissa said through giggles and opened the door, waiting for Seth to move.

'Sparkling..' Seth retorted with a smirk and crossed his arms. Ryan reached over to Seth and punched him hard on the shoulder.

'OW' Seth bellowed and tumbled out of the car and rolled onto the pavement. Marissa grinned widely and patted Seth on the shoulder before climbing into the vacant seat.

'What was that for?' Seth held his shoulder and climbed into the backseat.

'She told you not to say it, and you did anyway.' Ryan smirked

'Man, you two really do share the same brain..' Ryan pulled the car away from the driveway and blindly held a fist in the air. 'Anyways we got to go pick up Anna.' Marissa shot Ryan a look and he just shrugged.

'I told you we were bringing Summer' She hissed to Ryan in a low voice. Ryan's face turned a pale shade of white.

'No, no, no its _Anna_. Not Summer.' Seth spoke up, unaware of the situation.

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'We just have one more stop you two..' Ryan announced as he continued to drive. Marissa had her head buried in her hands just thinking about the situation they all were going to be in.

Anna and Seth had been indulged in talking ever since they picked her up just a short while ago, most likely about sailing and comics. Ryan pulled into Summer's driveway, unbeknownst to Seth. They continued chatting while Summer came strutting down from her house with a guest.

'Oh this just got a whole lot more interesting..' Ryan whispered over to Marissa as they watched Summer pull the backdoor open. She sprung the door open and stared absentmindedly at Seth and Anna. Seth looked straight up, praying to any and all gods that this was all his imagination. Her guest however, did not go unseen by Seth.

Oh god. Justin?!? You've gotta be kidding me. She's back with him? Maybe they're just friends. God snap out of it Cohen, you've got Anna with you now…But boy does Summer ever look good. 

Seth scooted to the far side of the car, seemingly trying to go straight through the door. Anna was cramped right against him as they made room for Summer and her _man_.

'Ugh…Clearly this car wasn't made for 6 people so ugh…' Seth mumbled and found interest more in Summer's roof than he did in the scene in the car.

Summer got the hint and glared at Seth, attempting to rid him off his head with her eyes. ' Oh no, we're not missing out on LA Cohen, you leave!' Seth fixed his sight back on Summer and shook his head frantically. Summer continued to glare at him, and Seth stuck his tongue out at her. Summer hid a grin by sticking her tongue out back at him.

'Well guys, we'll just have to manage…' Ryan sighed and shifted the vehicle in gear and began to pull away from Summer's.

'I don't know if I'll _manage _to keep my hands from strangling Cohen..' Summer spat out.

'Keep your hands off me woman, I know I'm desirable and all, but not in the car…' Summer rolled her eyes. Justin was closest to the other door and continued to glare out the window. He really had no with him on this trip, he was all on his own. He had no water polo players to back him up. He was dreading every moment of this trip.

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'Oh my god, Cohen you totally suck at I Spy..' Summer laughed and continued sipping on her soup. It was now dinnertime, they stopped at French 75 for some dinner, before going to the game. Which was going to be a hassle all on its own. Ryan and Marissa already had tickets purchased for the game, which would leave Seth, Summer, Anna and Justin to fend for their own tickets.

'Well if you didn't pick things that we past _hours_ ago, I would've done better.' Seth shoveled food into his mouth and Summer just rolled her eyes and laughed.Anna had been aware of the heavy flirting between Seth and Summer the entire ride, and was determined to bring it to a stop. She wanted Seth all to herself, she couldn't do it if he was clearly interested in another girl.

'Seth, come with me for a second. I'm just going to go check out that shop across the street.' Anna smiled devilishly to herself when she saw the hurt look on Summer's face. She clearly didn't want her bickering with Seth to end, because believe it or not, that's just how they worked.

'Woman please, I'm eating. Go by yourself.' Summer snickered and Seth continued shoving forkfuls down his mouth.

'Seth your not being very nice…just come with me, it will only be a few seconds.'

'Nice stops at dinnertime…And you already finished your food so there. Some people like to take their time.'

'Cohen you totally eat like an old lady.' Summer teased and Seth just gave a cheeky grin and opened his mouth, exposing all the food in his mouth.

'Dude nobody wants to see the gobs of food in your mouth.' Ryan made a disgusted look and made an attempt to throw up. Seth just grinned.

'Your just jealous.'

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'Okay, so can I trust you guys to get your own tickets?' Ryan held tightly onto Marissa's hand and glared down at the 4 other teens like they were his responsibility, which technically they were. Ryan always was the more responsible one.

'Yeah as long as _geek_ here doesn't say anything to get us killed by some scalper' The group all just looked at Justin. Not only were his first words practically all trip a cheap shot at their friend, but also an insult to basically everyone there. Ryan felt enraged because Seth was his best friend, Marissa was angry because her and Seth had formed a special bond in the past few weeks and Summer because well, she secretly had a huge crush on Seth. Which she hoped would stay a crush.

'Well I've been known to have a bevy of _marvelous_ one liners but I would never attempt any of them without some much needed backup.' Seth pointed to Ryan and he just smirked and so did Seth. The group broke into laughter and Justin looked on in rage. Not only did he _**feel**_ out of place, now he _**knew **_he was out of place. Add on the fact that Seth continued to be the huge attraction of the group, and you got one pissed of water polo player.

Ryan and Marissa both said their goodbyes for the night, and walked toward the arena entrance grinning, still hand and hand. That left the remaining latter of the group extremely awkward and extremely quiet.

'….Okay….So who's going to get the tickets?' Seth spoke above the looming awkwardness.

'It should be either you or Justin, since you can handle the like, creepy stalkerish scalpers.' Summer rubbed her hands up and down her arms, desperately trying to cover the exposed skin left uncovered from her shirt.

'_Stalkerish_ Summer? Is that even a word? And secondly, I'm a child set in Southern California…I'm not too good with handling the needy.' Seth bellowed. It was both honest and true.

'Dude don't be a pussy..' Justin boomed and rolled his eyes.

'Well _dude_, why don't you go get them Mr. Waterpolo?' Everyone shifted their gaze to Justin, and he just groaned and stalked off to find a scalper. Which in turn, left Seth in even more awkwardness.

He had no clue where he and Summer stood relating to a relationship, and as far as he knew he and Anna were friends. But her attitude was beginning to bother him and it seemed to only be growing worse as the night moved on.

Summer was shifting on the spot and kept sneaking glances to see what Seth was doing. He had his hands buried in the bottoms of his pant pockets with his back turned to Anna. Summer grinned to herself at that sight.

'Here you go..' Justin held the tickets out, unaware that his voice just broke an extreme amount of tension amongst the three.

'Thank god….Seth?' Anna held out her hand and extended it towards Seth. She gave her best puppy dog eyes, and Seth rolled his eyes and sighed. Anna's puppy dog eyes surprisingly had limited affect on him opposed to Summer's. When Summer would shoot him that look, he felt compelled to do whatever she wanted.

Seth groaned and with his hands still shoved in his pockets, raised them a bit to allow Anna room to link her arm with his. They walked away toward their gate with Summer and Justin following close behind. Anna looked over Seth's shoulder back at Summer and grinned. Summer glared back at her and Justin was more interested in checking out the racks of each and every passing blonde that strolled by him.

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'Come on! That ref's an asshat!' Summer yelled out. The game was about 10 minutes to halftime, and the Lakers were losing. Justin had been trying to make small talk since the beginning of the game with Summer. He wanted to keep Summer away from Seth, but she continued her bickering and teasing with him. It was really beginning to frustrate him.

'Summer, Summer Summer. He's just doing his job.' Seth sipped on his drink and popped popcorn into his mouth. Justin was the furthest into the row, next was Summer, than Anna and closest to the aisle was Seth

'No way! How could you say that! He's totally blowing the game!' Seth smiled at Summer. One of the things he loved about Summer was when she set her attention to something, she gave it her full attention and truly got into it. In this case, she was _very_ into the game. 'How could he call it on Kome?!' Summer replied exasperated. She along with the nearby fans, were screaming in protest.

'My little Summer, I believe it's _Kobe_, not Kome. And because he ran with the ball.'

'Its called _traveling_ moron.'

'Well I'm sure that call in particular won't change the outcome of the game, the Knacks totally have it in the bag.'

'It's the Knicks queer' Justin snarled, causing everyone to turn and glare at him. Summer was shooting daggers at him with her eyes and Seth was looking at him with confusion. He really didn't know what his deal was.

'Well, go Knicks!' Seth screamed out and the surrounding fans near him all looked back at him with angered faces. Seth's face turned a dangerous shade of pink and he lowered his head in embarrassment. One fan in particular, took Seth's confession a bit too seriously, and dumped his bag of popcorn on Seth and stormed away from his seat. Most likely to finish watching the game at the bar. That action, resulted in a chain reaction of beverage and food tossing at Seth. He was covered in pepsi, mountain dew, sprite, you name it. Hell, you could even venture to say he was covered in booze, people were _that_ angered at him.

'Great! Now I gotta go cleanup…' Seth stood up and angrily brushed his shirt off. Anna stood up and allowed him to pass, but reacted to late to stop Summer. Summer followed Seth out toward the isle and then realized what she was doing. If she was going to go with Seth, she at least needed an excuse.

'Ummm…I'll just head up with him, I'll bring you back something. What do you want?' Summer eagerly awaited an answer as she kept peering up the isle to make sure Seth didn't get too far away.

'I'll have a pepsi.' Justin mumbled out but still had a grin plastered on his face from the barrage of items thrown at Seth. Summer rolled her eyes, and rushed hurriedly up the stairs to keep up with Seth. The crowd around them began to clap and cheer as Seth was almost up the top of the stairs, so he left to a standing _taunt_.

'God I hate sports..' Seth groaned as Summer joined him.

'Come on, lets go clean you up…' Summer took off ahead of Seth through the arena. Seth poked his head back out toward the court. Everyone had their backs turned to him, and were just beginning to sit back down.

'GO KNICKS!' Seth yelled out and took off to find Summer.

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'Cohen, someone threw a dime at you…' Summer smiled sympathetically and continued dabbing away at Seth with a damp cloth. They had to plead the concession stand to borrow it, and decided not to go into detail how he ended up covered in every food item available.

'How do you know?'

'Cause It's stuck to your neck…' Seth reached a hand back and sure enough, found a collection of change practically glued to his neck. The sticky pop had been enough to keep it stuck on his neck.

'Oh my god!' Summer boomed, causing Seth to jolt up. ' That was soo not a foul!' Summer pointed at the TV monitor.

'Summer, I'm not a hundred percent sure about this, but I'm pretty sure you can't elbow someone in the face…regardless if its accidental or intentional.' Seth replied as he viewed the replay. He really didn't have a clue about what was going on.

Summer smiled and set the cloth down on the ground. She continued to smile and watched Seth looking at the replay and making faces. She pretty much figured out Seth enjoyed arguing against the obvious. Summer began hovering her body closer and closer to Seth while he viewed the monitor, still with a smile permanently sealed on her lips.

'-I mean that's just outrageous Summer…That was obviously a f-' Seth ranted on and on but was brought to a sudden halt. Summer cupped Seth's face in her hands, and attacked him with her lips. Seth was stunned at first and opened his eyes to see Summer pressed against him. Seth finally brought himself back down to earth, and smiled into the kiss. He deepened the kiss and put his hands around her waist in an attempt to bring her even more, if possible, close. Summer felt Seth's tongue grazing the surface of her lips, until she finally opened her mouth to allow him access. Seth searched her mouth with his tongue and which made Summer moan into Seth's lips.

They finally broke apart for air, but remained in one another's arms. Summer gazed up at Seth and he kept his hands attached to her waist. Summer eventually broke apart from Seth's grasp, still grasping and shocked at their kiss.

Seth looked quizzically at Summer, searching her eyes for answers as to what was going on between them now. After all, everything came down to Summer. Because if it were up to Seth, they would be together.

'Like I said earlier, I told yeah you couldn't keep your hands off me..' Summer smirked and smacked Seth on the chest. He smiled at their banter. Things were awkward enough between them, it felt nice to be semi back to their usual bickering.

'Cohen….You got my shirt dirty!' Summer pouted and swiped away at her shirt. She was covered in pizza sauce and popcorn, and drenched in pop. Seth grinned which led to another smack from Summer. 'Well I guess I gotta get a new shirt now…Thanks to you Cohen!'

'Glad I could help…'

'Well uhhh…I'm gonna go now…'

'Okay…' Summer took one last look at Seth before taking off down the hall towards the t-shirt stand.

Why is everything so awkward…!?!?! 

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Seth returned to his seat first, much to the dismay of Laker fans alike. It was now halftime so he surely received numerous amounts of jabs and kicks while he made his way back to his seat. The cheerleaders came pouring out onto the court, to the enjoyment of all the remaining male fans. Seth however, kept his eyes glued to the entrance of his section awaiting for a certain brunette.

Justin had taken off at the end of the half and was gallivanting around god knows where. Anna remained in her seat and inched her body toward Seth once he sat down. Shortly after, Summer came trudging back to her seat and avoided looking at Seth. She had on a new shirt, and her old white blouse was tucked neatly in the bag. She bought a dangerously small white shirt, with Lakers embroidered on in pink. The shirt wouldn't do much for keeping warm, seeing as it showed just enough skin off at her stomach to drive any man wild. If Seth didn't know any better, he'd think she was a part of the cheerleaders.

The three of the them continued to sit in silence, and the remaining lingering fans began to take their seats for the start of the third quarter. The game was back underway, still with no sign of Justin. Summer was grateful of the game being back underway, now she wouldn't have to deal with the looks Seth kept sending her way.

**Alright everybody! Now show a little love on this beautiful Friday Evening! Its that time again folks, all 20,000 of you! Show a lil' love, it's the Kiss Cam!**

Everyone looked up at the jumbotron and the crowd erupted in cheers. Seth watched the screen as it flashed various couples and they commenced in kissing. Seth searched across the court to Ryan's section to see if he could spot him. Sure enough he found them about 12 rows up and they too were watching the screen contently.

Ryan shot his eyes away from the screen and he was now staring back at Seth with a huge smile played across his face, and Marissa too was jumping around. Seth quizzically threw his hands in the air, and Ryan simply pointed up toward the screen.

Seth looked up and his face turned pitch red. He saw his reflection peering down on the arena and the people around him were jumping around, doing anything they can to get on screen. Seth's face was flushed and he sat down deeper in his seat. He waved his hands dismissively and looked away, hoping they would fix on someone else. But to his dismay, they kept the camera fixed on him.

**Aww come on, don't leave the lady hanging! Your clearly not related, so kiss her!**

The announcer bellowed and everyone looked on, waiting for Seth to make a move. Seth scoffed and looked to his left and found Anna with her lips pressed together and her eyes shut. Seth looked beyond her and finally met his eyes with Summer. Her eyes gave off so much hope, and yet they gave off so much fear.

_Have you ever got that feeling where you know your being watched? Well I know I am, I know for a fact 20,000 people are watching me. The one that's most important is Summer, she's all that matters. Anna just looks like a fool, with her eyes shut and all. I honestly don't know what to do._

**Kiss her! Kiss her!**

Jeez that announcer's a pain in the ass……well Mr. Announcer guy, here goes nothing… 

Seth turned his body and finally face Anna. He gulped down a huge lump in his throat. Anna opened her eyes for a moment to see if Seth was following through with the announcer's pleas, than looked over her shoulder at Summer. She was slumped down in her chair and frown on her face. Her eyes were glassy and on the verge of tears. This was the moment Anna was waiting for.

Anna resumed her position and puckered her lips up and closed her eyes. Seth leaned forward and caught Summer's eyes once again. He froze on the spot and smiled at her. She gave a sad smile and looked down at her hands. It was at that moment Seth knew what to do.

He leaned overtop of Anna and spun Summer around. Her eyes grew huge and gazed back at Seth. Seth's grin grew if possible, bigger. He reached his hand underneath her chin, and held her face up. He pressed his lips onto hers and smiled into the kiss. Anna was still clueless as to what was going on overtop of her. Seth did his best to use every fiber in his body to deepen the kiss, yet keep it G-rated.

After about 30 seconds, they broke apart exasperated. Summer was winded and Seth just continued to smile at her. He was still leaned over Anna and he tucked a strand of hair and neatly guided it behind her ear. Seth and Summer both looked up at the screen, which was still placed on them.

The crowd broke into a slew of 'aww's and applause.

'HAPPY?' Seth yelled out blindly to the screen and it was followed by a few laughs.

Wow, you totally hung that first one out to dry, but man, you covered it up nicely! Now that's how you kiss folks!

Seth retook his seat, and Anna whipped her eyes around to see what the hold up was. Seth took one last look at Summer and they grinned at each other before continuing to watch the game, both with smiles plastered on their lips.

**Okay that was extremely fluffy… I'll admit that…hope you liked it Nxt chapt….a fight? The ride home? Sleepovers?** **That was kinda long too, but i'm really happy with that chapter so i hope you review!**

**REVIEW please!!**


	19. From Ballin' to Brawlin'

**Disclaimer: For the thousandth time, I don't own jack shit to do with The O.C( wish I did though : ( **

**From Ballin' to Brawlin'**

"So…that was…uneventful." Ryan peered into the rearview mirror to catch the reaction of the passengers in the back. They had just left the arena parking lot, and everyone was encased in silence. Which wasn't good for Ryan, if they all wanted to get home in one piece he needed something to distract him and keep him awake. Now Marissa wasn't much of a talker, so he needed some commotion. God he couldn't believe it, but he was actually hoping for Seth to open his mouth.

"Yo guys you catch me making out with that blonde on the big screen…I poked my head in for a minute and got the tail end of the kiss cam…it was nicccee." Justin bragged and leaned back in his chair and wrapped his arm around Summer. Summer raised her eyebrows at him and scoffed. Did he seriously just talk about making out with some chick, and now expect to get some from her? He had to be delirious.

"I totally got stood up by Seth…He chickened out and slouched in his seat." Anna whined and crossed her arms. Seth rolled his eyes and continued looking out the window.

"Pussy…" Justin snarled and he too looked out the opposite window. This led to another slew of looks from everyone. Who did this guy think he was? Not only making fun of Seth, but around his friends too? That's not right.

"What can I say guys, sorry. I got distracted." Seth's eyes roamed from the window and he peered over at Summer. She smiled dully down at her hands but kept her gaze fixed on her fidgeting fingers.

Seth continued looking on at her, but began to worry. What could possibly be going through her head right now? How he wished to know what she was thinking about. The looks she was projecting weren't exactly your typical happy-go-lucky sort of looks. Was she having second thoughts about everything that was going on between them? Seth panicked and ripped his eyes away from constantly staring into her eyes, and instead focused back out the window.

"I'm gonna pull over, I gotta get some food or something to stay awake." Ryan steered the car off the highway and onto the onramp. He pulled into a small roadside bar and parked in the empty lot. He barrowed out of the car, not without a closely following Marissa and headed in the bar restaurant.

"Come on Anna…" Seth sighed loudly and unbuckled his seat belt. "Let so grab something…" He shot the door open and stepped out. He allowed Anna to pass by him. He took one last look in the car to see if he could finally get Summer to look at him, which she didn't. Apparently she was finding more interest in the back of the front seat than him. He sighed and trudged off towards the restaurant.

As soon as he fled toward the restaurant, Summer's eyes shot over to where he was last standing. Her eyes closely followed him as he treaded into the bar, and it was than she finally observed him since the game. Seth and Anna were now inside the bar, and Summer began frantically pecking away at her nails. Why was she nervous? Was it because her and Cohen were finally both on the same page, and now they were already slipping back into the awkwardness just like the night he spent the night? No, not again Summer. She wasn't going to lose him that easily.

"What he said!" She whispered exasperated and jetted out the open door and toward the bar. Justin groaned and sighed angrily. Who would've thought Seth Cohen could possibly get under his skin more than he was today. It wasn't supposed to be like this. At school, Justin was the main attraction and Cohen was merely a shadow. That's the way it should be. He angrily got out and slammed the door enraged. He stormed off toward the bar in search of Summer.

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"Eww you guys…" Summer looked down at the menu on the bar counter top and stuck her tongue out disgustingly. "This food, is so….eww!"

"I'm sure they have the princess' menus in the back somewhere…" Seth trailed off and Summer shook her head and rolled her eyes. The bar was exactly as they expected, a few shady characters lounged around along with the beaten down pool table and broken tv. It had only one channel, and like almost 100 of all other bar's in North America…sports was on.

"Aww come on…I've had enough of sports and overall physical contact for one day.." Seth complained and threw his hands up as he pointed at the tv.

"You should quit actin' like a pussy and watch, maybe learn how to be a man.." Justin snarled and sat down on the bar stool. Ryan and Marissa were seated by themselves over by a window close to the door, secluded from the others. Ryan of course was worried about the car getting jacked while they ate, and Marissa just felt safer being near Ryan and the incoming light from the outside lantern. (Yes it was that old, they had lanterns)

"What the hell does watching sports have to do with being a man?" Seth looked confusedly at him and began smirking. "Oh right, so I can learn how to properly shave my chest. Oh wait I got it! So I learn proper technique on wearing a speedo." Justin clenched his fists together beneath the table and gritted his teeth. Seth's growing laughter didn't help matters.

"Oh my god, turn it up…" Anna squealed and took the empty seat beside Seth. He stared quizzically at her until she pointed at the tv. "Maybe we made the highlights!" The game highlights began, and Seth rolled his eyes and focused on the menu in front of him.

**_-Yeah John, Kobe had an excellent game as usual, racking in 28 points with 5 helpers. The knicks struggled to maintain the Lakers' pressing attack all game long…-_**

Seth zoned out and focused solely on the menu. Nothing really fascinated him on it, but he just would rather look at the menu than be tortured with listening to sports talk he had no damn clue about. He raised his hand and ordered a pop, deciding to skip Anna altogether.

"Hah! Your such a geek Cohen. Why don't you grab a beer dumbass."

"Uhhh…I don't know because we're underage genius."

"Fake I.D queer."

"Well that was rebellious of you Mr.Waterpolo…"Seth snickered and looked away from him with a grin. His drink was set down and began slurping away at it. He sipped on his straw and for the first time since entering the bar, looked around for Summer. She was 3 stools down from him, on the other side of Justin. She'd been relatively quiet, only the noise of the ice at the bottom of her empty cup bashing around.

**_Well Bill, this game was not only jam packed with excitement and entertainment on the court, but also in the stands as you see here._**

Seth shifted his gaze to the tv and to his horror, an unsuspected sight. His kisscam kiss with Summer was being broadcast nationwide as we speak on the network, ESPN. His palms were sweaty and he his eyes were beginning to be blurred with either sweat or presumably faint tears of joy. No matter how flustered the kiss made him, it would always bring a smile to his face.

**_Whoa! No way! That girl got absolutely discoed!_**

The broadcaster cooed and continued dissecting the kiss, instead of investing his time on the one thing he gets paid for, sports. Seth buried his head in his hands, but as soon as he felt secluded to everyone, began blushing and smiling like an idiot. Summer was likewise, except she shot glances over to Marissa's booth and was covering her eyes teasingly with her hand, with an immovable smile plastered on her.

**_Shut down!_**

The camera zoomed in briefly on Anna hovered over Seth's vacant seat, still with her lips puckered and her eyes shut. Anna gasped and covered her mouth. She finally saw what happened during kisscam. Seth blew her off…for Summer!

_**I'm sure that boy caused one hell of a scene with that stunt…now back to the action…the 2**__**nd**__** half began with…**_

Silence filled the bar, and in a hurry. Marissa rushed over to Summer's side and kneeled down beside her to begin her interrogating questions. Ryan strode across the room, smirking the entire time and joined Seth, who was leaning his elbows on the counter and his head still buried deep in his hands. No matter how revealing that whole experience was, he just could not wipe the smile off. It was merely impossible.

"Wow!" Justin deadpanned and began to slowly clap. "In-fricken-credible." He continued his ever growing clapping. "Who do you think you are Cohen?" He brought the clapping to halt and gave an angered look at Seth. "You must think you're some big shot huh? Coming in and stealing my girl…" Everyone looked confusedly amongst each other. Since when were Justin and Summer together? Did he know something they didn't?

"Well I wouldn't want to go on record or anything…but anyways since when were you and Summer dating? Was it when you were busy checking out the racks of every girl in the arena? Oh it must've been when you shared that "niccce" kiss with that blonde…"Seth exaggerated the 'nice' and made air quotes. "I was merely keeping her company, something you failed to do. Not that it would matter or anything, because you shouldn't care about that." Silence encased everyone, and their eyes bounced back and forth between Seth and Justin. Summer watched intently as the scene unfolded, and opted to remain out of it, so she kept her mouth shut.

"And who do you think you are Summer? You just couldn't keep your hands off my man could you?" Anna grunted loudly, thus leading to everyone to look weirdly at her. Was it just Seth, or did Anna and Justin seem to know something everyone else did? "No, being queen of the school wasn't enough, you had to go out and snag the school geek and add him to your collection of boytoys." Marissa gasped and stood up from her kneeling position beside Summer. Summer stared at Anna with an incredulous look labeled all over her, and held her hands on her hips and rose from the stool.

"Bitch when were you ever dating Cohen? So I suggest you shut up or I'll make you." Summer roared and attempted to lunge at Anna, but was held back by a light hand placed in front of her from Marissa.

"Everyone please. Feel free to voice your opinions." Ryan exclaimed and fought back the urge to burst into laughter about the scene before him. He circled around and held his hands out questioningly and looked at everyone in the bar.

"Shut up trailer trash, go back to Chino. Take your alcoholic slut along with you" Justin barked and shoved Ryan out of the way so he could get a clear view of Seth. Ryan clenched his fists and glared angrily at Justin from behind. Not only did he hate people insulting where he grew up, but he just had to throw Marissa into this didn't he?

"I am positive that these two should be sent back to the insane asylum." Seth pointed at Justin and Anna, finally sending his first dig at Anna that night.

"I am positive that you two should go get a room." Anna smirked confidently to herself, and received confused looks. Seth flat out laughed in her face, and Summer grinned over at Seth.

"Good call, how long did it take to figure that one out?" Seth scoffed.

"I am positive Tinker Bell here will be flying back to Pittsburgh with a black eye!" Summer snarled.

"I am positive geek boy here won't be leaving here at all." With that said, Justin lunged forward and tackled Seth to the ground, sending the surround stools crashing to the ground. Plates and cups smashed to the ground as a result. Ryan rushed back into the picture and pulled Justin off of him. He spun around and slugged Ryan in the face, sending him staggering back. By now Seth rose back to his feet and attempted to get as far away as possible from the raging water polo player. He rushed toward a nearby table and grabbed basket of condiments on the table. He picked up a ketchup bottle and grinned devilishly to himself. His first thought was, if it didn't work in P.E, why would it work now? But he shook off the thoughts and launched the bottle at Justin, who was towering over Ryan, and pegged him in the head.

"What? Dude it wasn't me…" Seth raised his arms defensively and backed away. Justin slowly walked toward him and rolled up his sleeves. It then came to Seth's attention what was going on in the background. The entire bar had erupted in a brawl. It appeared even longtime friends who gathered there every night were tussling with each other. Summer had a fist full of Anna's blonde locks, while Marissa struggled to refrain Summer from seriously hurting the girl, though she felt like pounding her herself.

"I've been wanting to do this all night geek…" Seth shot his eyes back to the scene before him, Justin was readying his fist and was slinging it back to pack more power. Seth closed his eyes and hoped the inevitable would somehow not happen.

He heard a smash and whipped his eyes open. Justin was thrown through a table with Ryan pounding away at him.

"This is for insulting my damn childhood…" He slugged him in the face.

"And this…" He punched him once more. "Is for disrespecting Marissa…." He rose to his feet and wiped off the lingering blood off his lip. Seth rushed hurriedly over to him and looked down at him. Ryan nodded his head, knowing Seth was about to break into a hour long sympathy speech about how he saved him. He brushed by Seth and reached his hands into a mob of people and yanked Marissa and Summer out, both clawing away hastily at others. He didn't stop once, he just continued trotting along toward the door, dragging the girls with him.

Seth stood alone at the foot of the broken table currently occupied by a sprawled out Justin. _Wow that really got out of hand fast_. Some of the regulars were still pounding away, while others had already returned to their drinks. Seth snapped out of his deep concentration and looked out the window to see Ryan forcing the girls into the car and loading everything up. He made a break for the door, but stopped momentarily. He peered down at Justin's limp body.

He ran toward him and booted him rather harshly in the side, than began smiling proudly.

"And that's for ever hurting Summer…"

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"Wait Ryan don't you think we should at least give them a ride home?" Seth questioned from the back as Ryan sped away from the bar. They left Justin and Anna stranded in the bar, it was only about 30 minutes away from home anyways.

Ryan glanced in the rearview mirror and perked his eyebrows and glared at him.

"Bah, who am I kidding they can find their way home…After all Anna is somewhat smart and witty, and they got Mr.Water polo himself, Justin with them…"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Marissa perked up in her seat and looked to the backseat.

"Well they play water polo…" Ryan and Marissa both nodded dully, trying to get him to actually state a point. "so…that means they're tough…" Ryan raised his eyebrows and glared at him through the mirror, referring to the scene they just left, where Justin was left in total wreckage.

"Right that little incident back there doesn't really shout out 'bad ass' now does it?" Summer laughed silently and stared off into space, while Marissa and Ryan chuckled amongst themselves and continued looking out at the road.

Summer and Seth finally locked eyes for the first time since the game, and the sexual tension seemed to be mounting at every passing minute. They both were grinning excitedly at each other. Seth made the first move and leaned his face towards her. He stopped an inch in front of her and gazed into her chocolate eyes. Summer got the point and squinted her eyes shut in preparation for what was coming next. Seth's grin boomed and it got impossibly bigger, he shut his eyes and leaned forward. Summer smirked and pulled away from Seth and left him hanging.

"So Cohen…" Seth whipped his eyes open. " Land any good shots on Justin?" Seth backed away and smiled faintly. He knew what she was doing. Summer was always up for playing games, after all isn't that what she had been doing with him for the past month? She wouldn't win this one though, if it was the last thing he ever did.

"Well, yeah you know…I didn't really want to hurt the guy so I went easy on him." He sprawled his arms around the seats and leaned back deep into the seat.

"Oh really Seth, because if I'm not mistaken I could've sworn you threw a ketchup bottle at him." Marissa chimed in and turned around in her seat and grinned back at them.

"No you're right…Justin was about to hit me than a ketchup bottle hit him out of nowhere!" Ryan laughed as he continued staring out at the open road.

"Aww! How chivalrous of you Cohen!" Summer reached across the seat and pinched his cheeks together.

"Hey, I'm a child set in Orange County. Now that doesn't necessarily scream out 'scraper' now does it? And anyways if I ever did get into an onslaught of fights, I would find a way out of him. See the type of people like me would much rather hire someone to fight for us." Seth defended himself and searched everyone's eyes for some sort of agreement. They all scoffed at him and nodded teasingly "I wasn't born into drug dealing and knife fights."

"Dude, are you ever going to give up that stereotype of Chino?" Ryan smirked back in the mirror at Seth frantically trying to defend himself.

"No…"

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"Well, here we are." Ryan pulled into Marissa's house and brought the vehicle to a halt.

"Coop can I stay with you?" Marissa nodded and began to unbuckle her seatbelt. "The step-monsters like, unconscious and my dad's gone and left me the whole house to myself. He only left me a load of money to get through the week, no note, nothing." Summer slouched back in her seat as Marissa exited the vehice.

"Ahh, you live the hard life Summer." Seth chimed in and tried to lighten the mood. It appeared to work, as Summer smiled briefly before beginning to get out of the car. "Summer wait!" she turned back to face him. "Uhhh do you guys maybe wanna stay over at our house? I mean we can just hang out, we don't really have to do anything, we can just chill and you guys can watch me teach Ryan a lesson in PS2"

"Chill, Cohen?" Summer laughed. " Sure, I don't see why not…Coop?" She looked over to Marissa who's eyes were practically undressing Ryan already. "I take that as a yes."

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"Dad! Summer and Marissa are staying over okay? Great!" Seth opened the door and yelled before motioning Summer and Marissa off to the poolhouse as quickly as possible, before…._Damn, too late_.

"Summer! Marissa!" Sandy gallivanted into the foyer to greet them.

"Get to the pool house, now!" Seth exclaimed and shooed them away. He rushed them through the kitchen and out the side door.

"What's the matter son? All I was going to do was say hi…" Sandy questioned as he walked over to greet Ryan who was just entering the house.

"That would lead to embarrassing stories about me and my childhood, or worse you breaking out into some show tunes."

"Nothing wrong with a few show tunes every now and then…."

"Well not today, its Summer's first actual visit over here, and I don't want you scarring her for life from this place, now bye!" Seth turned to walk off.

"You were right son, she is hot stuff." Sandy chimed from behind and Ryan quietly chuckled as he handed the keys to Sandy.

"Now its ruined…" Seth moaned and lowered his head frustratingly. "I'm leaving now!" He stalked of toward the kitchen, with Ryan trailing behind.

"Go get her son!"

**lol I felt like putting another fight in this, and the Justin/anna feuding isn't over yet.**

**Nxt chapt…sleepover…**


	20. Friends and Betrayal

**Friends and Betrayal**

"Sooo…." Ryan clapped his hands together and Marissa snuggled deeper into his chest. They had just arrived back in the pool house, and there was already a weird tension amongst everyone. Clearly Ryan and Marissa just wanted alone time so they could get it on, Seth wanted Summer all to himself, while she on the other hand was trying to do anything in her power to prevent that.

If things between her and Seth weren't messed up before, now there was absolutely no telling where they stood. To state the obvious, Seth liked her, since what was it…like 6th grade? And her actions these past few days certainly could provoke the heavy sexual tension that had been looming amongst them ever since they left the Lakers game.

So your probably thinking, he likes her, she _thinks_ she likes him. They should get together, right? For some reason, Summer just can not swallow her pride long enough to actually picture her and him together. Her fears were at an all time high, and she was already thinking about what would happen _if _they broke up. She is doubting it before it even starts.

"This isn't awkward at all…" Seth nodded furiously and looked at each one of them.

"Well I think I'm just gonna go help Sandy with the dishes…"Ryan climbed off the bed and held an arm out to help Marissa up.

"Yeah, I'll come help…dishes can be a bitch." Marissa replied and let Ryan guide her across the room and towards the door.

"Don't you leave me Marissa, not alone with Cohen!" Summer sprung up from the chair and grabbed Marissa's shoulders and whispered into her ear. She went so fast you could practically only see the outline of her pajama's streaking across the room.

"Dude give me 20 minutes to lock things down with Summer." On the other hand, Seth was shooing Ryan out the door, thus breaking his grip on Marissa's hand.

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"Where do you think they went?" Seth closed his eyes and cursed himself after realizing how stupid and pointless that question was. And if he knew Summer, she would fire back an insult quicker than you could say _pointless_.

"_**Dishes**_, Cohen…" Summer scoffed and shook her head, keeping her eyes glued to the TV. "Its like couple talk for making out dumbass. Nobody does dishes at midnight." She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, before jumping to her feet and streaking across the room and flopping on the bed.

"What are you doing?" He closed his eyes yet again, this time cursing more loudly to himself.

"Oh wow Cohen, 2 for 2. I'm laying on the bed, getting ready to go to sleep." She adjusted her pajamas than crawled under the blankets. Seth so did not see this conversation turning out this way. Well to a degree he did, just he imagined him and Summer sleeping together, for a _second _time. The first was just because she claimed she didn't want to be alone. He wanted the second to be when they're a couple. "Good night" She muttered dryly, and woke Seth up from his deep concentration.

"Wait, wait, you're going to sleep…already? We still have to-"

"It is a _**sleep**_over Cohen…god." She mumbled from under the blankets and pulled the pillow over her head.

"Nuh uh, not this time." Seth ripped the blankets off and shoved them to the floor. "We have to talk first." Her eyes lit up, Seth squinted his eyes fearing the worst.

"What's there to talk about?" She sighed heavily and sat up straight and positioned the pillows to cushion her back. She knew they had a lot of things to resolve, it was more or less delaying the inevitable.

"We have to talk about _us_. Last time we were in this exact same spot, then we never talked, and then you ended up going out with Justin." Seth repositioned himself in the chair, then focused his attention on Summer. "I'm not going to let that happen again."

"What the hell do you want Cohen, for us to be a couple or something?" Summer perked up slightly, and her voice boomed through the pool house.

"Yes! That is exactly what I want. Its what I've always wanted." He shoved a hand roughly through his dangling curls in frustration. "I won't leave you like everyone else has Sum…" Seth's voice cracked up, and he softened considerably when he saw Summer wrap her hands around her knees and pull them tightly against her, just like a little child, a scared and afraid child.

He was certainly not going to blow this opportunity, not again. He wanted Summer, and hopefully just _hopefully_, she wanted him just as bad.

As she slowly rocked back and forth, pondering whatever was flowing through that condensed head of hers, Seth grew ecstatic when he saw her gradually beginning to nod her head. He couldn't help the slowly forming smile that was creeping up onto his lips. _This was it_

"Yes?" He pursed his lips together and squinted his eyes. She slowly nodded her head again, not once looking up at him. Seth on the other hand, was over the moon in happiness.

"But I think we should _**ease**_ into it…" Summer broke Seth's inner celebrations up with her soft and humble voice. He glanced over at her, mid celebration. "And do things on my terms."

"Whatever you say Sum, I'm all yours." He couldn't help himself, he dashed over to the bed and laid a soft, meaningful kiss on her lips. She sadly smiled into the kiss, realizing what she would say next could ruin absolutely everything. She realized that everything that had happened between them, was all her fault, and Seth….Seth had been perfect.

"Hold that thought." She broke free from the kiss, exasperated for a moment, then continued on her train of thought.

"What, why? What is it?" Seth leaned away from her. He was confused as hell. Were they going out? _Yes, that was cleared up 5 minutes ago._ So she was his girlfriend? _Yes._ So aren't you allowed to kiss said girlfriend? _YES!_. It all made sense to him, so what was the big deal.

"I think we should be friends…" Seth cocked his eyebrows up in confusion, and stared dryly at her.

"Okay you had me with the whole going out thing, but now you lost me." He scratched his head and waited for her to continue.

"Well, as I was going to say is we should be friends…" She stated rather happily, but her sudden cheerfulness faded away in a hurry. "With benefits."

"What the hell does that mean?"

**_"Ryan don't! Can't you hear? Their having an argument!" Marissa flung an arm out and blocked Ryan from entering his own room. They had been listening since Summer stated the friends with benefits idea, and now after hearing Seth's tone in response…it couldn't be good. He stepped back and scoffed._**

"_**They always argue. It can't be that bad." Ryan dodged around her arm and made a move to open the door.**_

"No! No! Come on Sum that's bullshit!" Seth's voice was very uncharacteristic, it boomed through the room and out into the backyard.

**_"Bad idea." Ryan gaped and ripped his arm away from the knob once he heard Seth yell._**

"_**See I told you so." Marissa hissed but remained content and tried to listen in.**_

"Please Cohen! This is all so new for me. And I just have to make sure its right before we do anything." Summer pleaded with her eyes and moved from her comfortable spot leaning against the pillows, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"So what, we hook up when no ones looking, then go to school like nothing happened?" Seth was furious. He stood up from the chair and began to pace the room. He didn't catch Ryan and Marissa shadows lurking about behind the closed curtains, pressed against the glass listening in. "Sum don't do this.." His voice softened considerably, and it sounded more frightened and scared than anything else.

"We won't kiss anyone else, okay. I promise." Summer stifled her tears at the sight of Seth's hurt look, and was beginning to blurt anything out that would cheer him up.

"Its not that. Its just your going to go back to ignoring me all over again, just like its another day." He froze on the spot in front of Ryan's dresser and lowered his head in realization of what might happen.

"Please! Do this for me, and I promise it won't be too long." Summer frowned her lips and gave her best puppy eyes, filled with hope and excitement. Seth felt compelled to listen.

"Fine!" Seth crossed his arms and pouted, and Summer lunged off the bed and wrapped her arms around him. She cupped his face in her hands, and Seth immediately flung his hands around her waist, pulling her closer. Knowing that he'd only be allowed to do this behind the scenes, when no ones looking, instead of whenever he damn felt like it, like any other boyfriend could. But no, not Seth. Nothing ever comes that easy.

As soon as their lips touched, Seth's tongue lingered the surface of her lips, until she finally gave in and opened to allow him access. Seth gave a beaming smile, not at the terms they were under, but at the feeling of being the love interest of Summer Roberts. He had been dreaming this his entire life, but the only real downer was the whole "friends with benefits" idea. That had to be the thing he had been dreading his entire life concerning her. Summer moaned into the kiss, and just as it was about to intensify, they heard a swift knock then the door fling open.

"Dude get a room." Ryan shielded his face but continued on walking into the room, and plopped down onto the bed. Summer and Seth jolted away from each other, just as Marissa came bounding in after Ryan.

Seth shot Ryan the nastiest glare he could conjure, and when he finally caught eye of the look Seth was sending him, he chuckled and shook his head at Seth's noble attempt to look threatening.

"Your own room."

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"Wasn't Cohen like, the _**GameMaster **_or something like that?" Summer stifled a giggle and spoke aloud, keeping her gaze fixed on the screen. Summer and Marissa were beating Ryan and Seth in their own favorite game.

**_Game Over. Team 2 wins!_**

Those two words flashed across the screen, and the girls squealed and jumped up in the air, hugging each other. Ryan grunted and turned his face away, while Seth stared in disbelief at the screen, grabbing away at it.

"_Was_ being the operative word there."

"How could they beat us at the Ninja game?" Ryan asked in sheer astonishment, scratching his head and trying to find an answer.

"Its simple. Girls are just better than guys, its that easy." Summer declared and sat back on the floor and leaned against the bed. "They have prettier hair, better clothes, waaay better face-"

"-Okay Louis Vitton, stop right there. Now I would like to formally extend to you, an invitation for a rematch. Ryan wasn't exactly on his A game." Ryan whipped his head back and stared incredulously at him.

"If it wasn't for you killing me 5 times alone, we might've won." Ryan defended himself, and shot Marissa a knowing grin, one she returned.

"What I can't help it? Come on, we're blue, their black for Christ's sakes. They're so similar. Also I'm partially blind." Seth babbled on and began to reset the game for a rematch.

"That would explain your choice in women, blindness." Marissa chimed in and grinned proudly. She just loved getting in shots to Anna. She really didn't like her, and the poor girl never really did much of anything to provoke it.

"Hey, I'm color blind, and also that remark also was a shot at dear Summer over here?" He rose and walked over and plopped down beside Summer. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and placed his head just slightly over top of her head, pouting at Marissa. Summer was laughing too, up until she understood what happened.

"Yeah Cohen, your right…that was about me." Seth mockingly opened his mouth and looked at Marissa. Summer was desperately trying to hide an oncoming laughing fit, but it was growing ever increasingly difficult.

"Come on guys…you know I was talking about Anna…" Marissa laughed nervously and looked at Ryan for support. "Right?"

"I don't know Riss, that was kind of mean." Ryan stood, which was joined by Seth and Summer, as they slowly crept towards Marissa.

Summer grabbed a pillow, and began openly giggling as she approached Marissa. Seth was holding the seating cushion to the pullout couch, and was trying his best to look threatening beneath the huge grin. Ryan had his arms flung wide open, ready to wrap her in a huge bear hug.

"Its not so fun being the one getting ridiculed is it Marissa?" She broke into a giggling fit once Ryan wrapped his arms around her and started tickling her. Summer started whacking away at her with the pillow, while Seth was pulling way back on the cushion, prepping up a huge hit.

"Actually Cohen, come to think about it." Summer stopped her onslaught of hitting and stared at Seth in mock concentration. "Nah, it was always more fun picking on you." She turned around and smacked Seth across the face with the pillow, sending him barrowing backwards. Ryan held Marissa in the air, with both hands clasped around her rib area, and finally realized Seth and Summer were no longer helping him. They stopped their tickling and caught sight of Seth rolling on the ground and covering his face, with Summer whacking away at him.

_That's too good an opportunity to pass up_

Ryan lowered Marissa to the floor, and walked over and picked up Seth's vacant weapon, the cushion. Marissa held his arms done, while Ryan joined Summer in the hitting.

"This"

_**Smack!**_

"Is

_**Smack!**_

"Not"

_**Smack!**_

"Funny"

**_Smack!_**

"You"

**_Smack!_**

"Guys"

Seth blurted out in between blows, lucky for him they were hitting in unison and not out of order. Or else this perfect opportunity wouldn't be presented for him. The three attackers were keeled over laughing at Seth's last declaration and his voice that accompanied it. He rose to his feet and bolted out the door. By then, the three had realization dawn on them that Seth was gone, and began chasing after him.

"What's going on out here?" Seth came to a screeching halt just short of the back door leading to the kitchen, where Sandy stood, clearly disturbed by whatever was going on out there.

"Dad. Thank god, I'm actually glad to see you." Seth stumbled over and wrapped him in a faux hug, still catching his breath. _What? The pool house to the side door is a long way!_

"I said what's going on out here?" The 4 of them were taken back by Sandy's change in character, but understood the motive behind it, seeing as it was 1:30am. They were silenced by his sternness, all rendered speechless.

"Well father…" Of course silence is foreign to Seth. "These three hooligans picked an impeccable time to double cross me and rewind back to the days of the Seth Cohen of old, and beat me."

"Seth your speaking in third person again." Ryan chimed in and tried to keep a straight face. He remembered the first day in Newport, when Seth wanted to go see Chino, he spoke in third person for a good portion of the day, then at the end made Ryan promise to remind him whenever he broke back into his phase.

Who was he to break a promise?

Seth shook Ryan's comment off and continued. "So if your looking for someone to yell at, look no further than these three." He pointed to them and grinned proudly. Ryan found it funny how Seth could easily rat them out, yet they were his closest and _only_ friends. That shows you how much friendship is cherished in Orange County.

"Sandy believe me, it was for a good cause…"Marissa let out a small laugh. This whole conversation was too good to be true, yet completely pointless.

"Yeah its real fun." Summer piped up, and Seth bolted his eyes over to her and shot her a pleading look. She smirked and stuck her tongue out.

"You should try it." Ryan tossed him a spare pillow at Sandy, and it landed at his feet. He still had that disgruntled look on his face, and Ryan desperately wanted the joking and humorous Sandy back.

His features softened considerably and bent down to pick the pillow up. When stood back up straight, he had a huge grin on his face. Seth felt betrayal flow through him, and was soon running out of options.

"Now listen…Dad." Seth held his hands up cautiously and slowly backed away from Sandy, unbeknownst to him at the time, he was backing into Summer, Ryan and Marissa.

"I thought I was an embarrassing father, who sings show tunes and shows embarrassing photos?" Sandy chuckled as he inched near him, holding the pillow in his right hand.

"Now I never said that-"

Whack! 

Sandy hit Seth on the side of the head with the pillow, and he keeled over and held his hands over his head.

"GET HIM!" Ryan yelled a war cry, as they all giggled and continued their previous positions. Marissa holding his arms, with the other three swinging away and laughing.

"What on earth is going on out here?" Kirsten came out groaning and looked wide eyed at the visual in front of her. Her boy on the ground covering his face, her husband and said boy's father hitting him, with the boys friends joining in. Now she knew Seth could be difficult sometimes, but hitting was beyond the question. Not to mention illegal.

"Honey you've gotta try this. It's a huge relief." Sandy joined his wife and wrapped an arm loosely around her and dragged her nearer. It was already almost 2 am, and the Cohen house was indulged in a war….on Seth. "And completely legal!" Sandy chimed in again, and this time his grin was matched by one of Kirsten's own.

"Thank god mom! Someone with some sanity left." Seth really didn't find the humor in all of this.

Hitting Seth had crossed her mind, but she never would follow through on it. Sure she gave the odd smack or slap, but never joined in the playful teasing and hitting Seth, Ryan and Sandy did.

Flashback 

"_**This is a good meal Kiki." Caleb sipped on his wine and eyed the meal through his glass.**_

"_**That's funny. Mom can't even make cereal." Ryan nearly choked on his food when he heard Seth's witty remark.**_

"_**I love you Seth." Kirsten plastered a smile and rose from her seat to go to the kitchen.**_

"_**I love you too mom!" Seth plastered his own smile, sarcasm and fakeness induced**_

_**End Flashback**_

Until now.

Whack! 

Kirsten ripped the pillow out of Sandy's hands, and smacked Seth in the chest with the pillow. She broke into laughter also, while Sandy was stunned at the velocity of her actions.

"Your traitors. All of you." Seth yelled.

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"That was fun. Wasn't it?"

"H a h a. I see the humor in it. My best friend betraying me, my girlfr- friend?" Summer nodded, telling him it was okay. "betraying me, and my own parents betraying me. That's funny." He dead panned as he looked up at the ceiling. Ryan and Marissa were sleeping soundly on his bed, while Summer had his pullout couch sprawled out into a bed form, with Seth on the floor.

She laughed one last time before adjusting herself for bed. "Goodnight Cohen."

"Night Sum."

Seth stayed on the floor in silence, and thought about the days events.

Well the good news is me and Summer are a couple now! The not so good news is that nobody can know about it. Ugh! I just wish she'd stop being so stubborn and let me in. let me get close. I would never leave her like the barrage of people in her life had previously done. But I do understand where she's coming from. She's afraid of change. So I guess I have to take my battles one step at a time, one victory at a time.

"Sum…?" He softly bellowed and fixed his sight on the corner of ceiling, waiting for an answer.

"…Yeah?" She replied just as equally quiet and opened her eyes. Seth sprung to up, and crawled to her bedside on his knees. She rolled over and caught sight of him, gazing away at her. He gave her his biggest puppy dog eyes and had lips creased into a slight frown.

Summer rolled her eyes and laughed silently to herself, and nodded. "Come on…."She moaned and scooted over to the other side, making enough room for him.

"Thank you." He relaxed on the bed, and Summer just waved her hand dismissively in the air.

As the night progressed, Seth felt Summer's body slowly roam over to his side of the bed, and sure enough was snuggled calmly into his chest, with her head pressed just in the crook of his neck, her hand loosely dangling of his chest and her legs entwined together with his. Seth fell back to sleep with a smile on his face.

**Sorry for the long wait for an update. i had exams all last week, and had no time to post, cause i really couldn't afford to fail. haha sorry.**


	21. Dreaming Of A Better Outcome

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, plain and simple**

**Dreaming Of A Better Outcome**

_He attacked her with her lips as soon as she entered the cafeteria. The entire student body all directed their attention towards them, and even with his back to everyone, he could still hear the whispering about him starting._

_He held firmly onto her back, ignoring the on looking students, and backed her up against the wall, pinning her body up against his. She finally broke free for air, but Seth once again brought his lips back to hers so she couldn't say anything._

"Seth…" 

_He let his hands roam her body, making their way up her shirt. She didn't seem to mind, as hers were wrapped around his neck, and she was even beginning to moan into the kiss._

"**Seth!"**

_He could feel the lingering bodies all hovered around him, gossiping about the age old tale of beauty and the geek, that he and her now were. But he didn't care, his hands continued to roam up her shirt, caressing her breasts passionately and gently. He smiled into the kiss when he heard her moan once again._

"**Seth, For the last time…"**

_She broke free from the kiss, and stared bewildered at him. He couldn't help but smile at her, hoping that it would make up for his sudden actions. Eventually, she gave into his charm and sent a beaming smile back to him._

_"I love you Cohen." Summer smiled and began ravishing him with her lips once again._

_"I love y-"_

"**Okay, that's it. Seth, get the hell up."**

Ryan booted the bed as hard as he could, and sent Seth flying up in a hurry. He searched the room frantically for Summer, and Ryan just groaned and continued to curse to himself.

"WHAT? Where is she? It was all a dream?"

"I hope so…" Ryan joked, but kept his posture and remained glaring at him.

"Where are the girls? They did sleepover last night right?" Seth said more to himself, as he was trying to regain his conscience and sanity. That whole dream was all too real for him.

"Yes, they _did_ stay over, but come on man, they're girls, so they left early to get ready for school." Seth nodded with agreement as Ryan began to make his way towards the door.

"Hey, what time they leave at?" Seth hollered. He didn't know if Summer witnessed any of his dream.

"I don't know, like 2 hours ago." Ryan yelled right back, as he was descending the stairs. Seth nodded openly and got up from the bed, ready to start the day. Thank god for Summer's mandatory 2 hour glamour preparation, or else she might've witnessed something she shouldn't have. Seth sighed loudly once he remembered that today was probably going to be one of the hardest of his life. He was finally dating Summer. _Yeah, that sounds real difficult Cohen_. But it wasn't that, it was the fact that she wanted their relationship to be hidden, even after all they've been through. Him going in a coma, the basketball game kiss, she still wanted it to be silent.

_Damn it why can't dreams be real_

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"Good morning…" Seth entered the kitchen and immediately sat down in his chair, slouching while he began fixing his breakfast, the usual cereal and coffee combination never failed.

"Hey lover boy." Ryan smiled sincerely for the first time to him that morning, and continued eating his cereal.

"How much of that did you catch anyway?" Seth avoided the usual morning greetings, instead getting straight to the point.

"Enough." Ryan smiled once again and smirked at him from the above the cereal spoon.

"You didn't happen to tell the parentals now did you, because I know your track record with secret keeping is down in the pits with mine."

"That's something every parent wants to wake up to." Kirsten exclaimed, as she made her presence felt in the kitchen with her arm linked with Sandy. He was smiling away like usual, at the predicament his son was in yet again.

"-how much we love you!" Seth replied cheerfully and held up his coffee mug for cheers. Sandy couldn't contain his laughter any more, and began chuckling. Kirsten on the other hand, was more focused on the _real_ problem at hand.

"No really, what happened this time?" She pulled a cup out from the cupboard but kept her gaze fixed on Seth.

"That was a good one Seth…" Sandy chimed in, still chuckling away at Seth's valiant effort to avoid parent confrontation. Kirsten shot him a deadly glare, and he immediately stopped laughing and focused on his bagel smear.

"I woke up Seth when he was having a pretty _graphic _dream." Ryan blurted out in one smooth motion, and sipped on his coffee. He then looked at Seth, who was shooting him angered looks, with a look of his own clearly stating 'what's the big deal'.

Kirsten nodded her head in understanding and poured her coffee, while Sandy stopped his smearing and smiled widely at Seth. Seth lowered his head and stared at his fingers.

"Who'd you dream about Seth?" Kirsten chimed in, trying her best not to sound to nosy.

"Oh I know honey, I bet it was that fox he had over last night." Sandy seated himself at the end of the table, and Kirsten seated opposite him. Seth closed his eyes and wished he were off on a far away planet.

"Summer." Ryan finished for him, and smirked at Seth, knowing he just started another trial of embarrassment for him.

"That's her name. Jeez we barely spent anytime with her last night. You should have her over for dinner some time."

"Hey man you ready to go." Seth finished up the remainder of his coffee and got up from his seat and anxiously waited for Ryan.

"Oh no darling, we saw a bit of her yesterday. Remember she helped Marissa pin Seth down for us to beat him." Sandy stated matter-of-factly, and Kirsten nodded, continuing to play along.

"Just for that, you can forget family dinner."

"Oh come on son, it will be such a _good_ time!" Sandy smiled cheerfully and it widened even more when he saw Seth's disgusted look.

"Thanks but no thanks, Ryan let's go." Seth began pacing back and forth in the foyer, while Ryan cleaned off his plates, which he just _had_ to do.

"Bye!" Seth spat out, and eagerly raced out the door, running towards the car. Ryan followed slowly, after giving an adequate goodbye to Sandy and Kirsten.

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"So what exactly is going to happen with you two now?" Ryan was the first to speak up. Since they left the house, Seth had been dead quiet, which was very uncharacteristic. Ryan just chalked it up him being utterly ashamed of his parents.

"I don't know, I seriously don't know."

"What do you want to happen?"

"What _I_ want, is for Summer to be my girlfriend, and not my friend. I want to kiss her, cuddle with her, be the one she turns to when she's sad, all of that jazz…" Seth turned to face Ryan for the first time, to see if any of what he said made sense. Ryan nodded understandingly, as he could picture himself being in the same situation as Seth.

"What's _actually_ happening?"

"We don't acknowledge each other at school, we remain unaware of the other's existence, well at least she does, and we don't kiss anyone else but each other." Ryan bit his lip, trying to suppress a laugh that was quickly coming on, just at hearing Seth's terms with dating Summer.

"So what, is there like some sort of contract you two had to sign?" Ryan laughed as he continued staring out at the open road.

"Ha-Ha, very funny."

"Is Summer on board with this?"

"Dude, she better because she's the one who wants this. If it were up to me, we would be back in my room, with dimmed lights, oh yeah and some whipped cream."

They finished the rest of the short drive off in silence, and arrived at the school. As soon as they hopped out of the car, the scorching California sun beamed down on them, and Seth shielded his eyes from the sun in search of whom else? Summer.

"Actually Ryan, scratch that…" Ryan turned to face him with a confused look, while Seth continued searching for Summer. When he finally found her, just about to enter the school doors along with Marissa, he faced him again. "I'm putting things back on my terms." He sped away from Ryan and trotted up the stairway in search of Summer.

"Good Luck!" Ryan yelled, in a half mockery half sincere voice.

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"Oh my god Sum! We totally saw you on T.V last Friday. Who was that hottie you were with?" A girl reminiscent to Holly Fisher was the first to approach Summer. Of course like Holly Fisher, she had a following of look-a-like slutty girls. The girls name was Ashley Johnson. In her 'clique' so to speak, was an army of cheerleaders, one being Jess. Summer froze instantly one the spot and felt butterflies begin to flutter in her stomach. _This can't be good_.

"Yeah, like who was it Sum?" Another finished, and Ashley eyes beamed with excitement. Jess remained in the background of their little group swarmed around Summer, and kept quiet.

Seth saw an aura of girls, all surrounding Summer, desperately awaiting on gossip, or a scoop, anything to keep them talking. He then shifted his gaze slightly beside the group, and saw Justin and Anna surprisingly close to one another, but both were glaring right back at him._ I guess their hatred of me brings them closer_. They were quietly chatting to each other, but not once shaking their angered glares away from him.

Seth remained frozen on the spot, exchanging looks with Justin and Anna, when Ryan came bounding in from behind him. He brushed right by him and headed straight to a stranded Marissa, who was standing alone by herself against the lockers. His eyes followed Ryan until he was standing with Marissa, already talking to her. He shook his eyes free, keeping his eyes on the prize, headed for Summer.

"Whoa you guys, just calm down…" Summer uttered out and held her hands up securely, preventing herself from being attacked by gossip hungry girls.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Seth asked quietly, and extended a hand out for Summer to take. _No rule she can make can prevent me from being chivalrous, that's all is…I can bend the rules_. The girls eyed him up and down.

"Eww geek. Get lost!"

"Who are you?"

Seth grunted and grabbed onto Summer's hand before she could protest, and dragged her away from the girls. He led her around the corner of the set of lockers, and stopped in front of a vending machine.

"Summer, these rules are stupid. Why can't we be just like any other normal couple?"

"Shh! Now is not the time Cohen…" She hissed as she broke her hand away from his grasp and her eyes were fixed on behind Seth, for any sign of the girls coming.

"Who was it!" The pack of girls were rounding the corner and flaunting their way towards Seth and Summer.

"Listen Sum, I know you're scared. Popularity is all you've ever known for your entire life, and it's hard to just throw it all away in such a short time. But if any of what you're scared of is concerning me? You might as well forget it Sum, because I promise you, I will never hurt like all the others in your life. I swear Summer, I'd do anything for you Summer, that's just how much in lo-" Seth choked up the last bit, and held himself back from saying the dreaded word that most likely would destroy their relationship before it even began.

"It was Seth Cohen." Justin and Anna walked by nonchalantly, and Justin spat out angrily. The girls plus Seth, all turned on the spot and stared quizzically at him. Seth was really at a loss for what the guy was talking about, besides the fact that he just helped stop him from proclaiming his love for Summer. _Did that guy get hit with a chair too hard in that bar or what?_

"Yeah, the guy she was with was Seth." Anna snickered and smirked devilishly at Seth. Seth looked around helplessly, as he could already feel an onslaught of questions being fired at him. He looked at Summer for help, but she was leaning against the vending machine smiling sadly. At least something he said had got to her, as she was wiping frantically away at moisture filling up her eyes. The pack of cheerleaders all simaltaneously dropper their jaws and raised their eyebrows at this new found information.

"W-W-What? What are you talking a-about? I-It couldn't have been me. Come on guys, I'm Seth Cohen." Seth smiled nervously as he shifted his gaze back and forth between each and every girl. He had to dig himself out of this hole, without Summer's help.

He knew when Summer would eventually speak, it would also be the answer to his question concerning their relationship. So as he saw it, she had two choices. Either come out with the dead honest truth, or spin the story a bit, actually no scratch that, entirely.

"Oh really? I could've sworn I got a ride with you to that game Seth…" Anna chimed in, and Justin grinned smugly and folded his arms over his chest.

"What? What?" Seth's voice was choking up, and he was beginning to run out of lies. " I was at a comic book convention. There's no way I was there, right Summer?" Everyone turned to face her, and by then she had managed to somewhat fix her appearance. She shielded her face away from Seth and faced the girls.

"Yeah totally, I wasn't with this geek." The girls all giggled and nodded with agreement, while Anna and Justin snickered at the sight of Seth. He felt like his heart had been ripped out, and stomped on, all by that tiny brunette. But he knew he had to remain composed, as least for Summer. He smiled weakly in her direction, even though she still refused to look at him. "He was such a cutie, and one hell of a kisser." Finally Summer looked at him, and she smiled widely at him. Anna and Justin grimaced at the sight of Summer's secret flirt attempt. Both of them knew there was something going on between Summer and Seth, and they were determined to either reveal it to everyone, or destroy it.

**Ring Ring Ring**

The pack of girls whisked Summer away, and swerved their way down the halls. Each of them one by one branching off into their respectable classes, Seth remained on sealed to floor, with his head buried in embarrassment.

Shortly after the last student cleared the hallway, Seth saw from the corner of his eyes as Ryan quietly made his way over to him. He stood silently beside him, and let Seth be alone in his thoughts.

"That wasn't quite how I envisioned it." Seth finally choked out, and smiled dejectedly down to his shoes just at the thought of how silly his dream looked _now_. Ryan was at a loss of what to do, and cautiously threw a loose arm over Seth's shoulder and shook him gently.

"Hey, at least you're still with her right?" Seth nodded but kept his gaze fixed on the floor. "Just not publicly, that's all." He nodded again, this time a bit more somber than before. He felt tears slowly begin to trickle down his cheeks.

"See that's it though, it's just not the same. Like look at you." He wiped angrily away any signs of the tears and looked aggressively at Ryan. "You and Marissa, you get to do anything with her. Kiss her, hug her, all of it. Me and Summer? Well I get to hold her hand if I'm lucky." Seth scoffed, and it went silent.

"Seth, you're still with her. That's what you wanted all along remember?"

"Well, being with her, now feels like a punishment rather than what it was before. A dream come true."

**I'm satisfied with this chapter. Oh yeah once again I own nothing and am not making profit from this.**

**Ahem, on another note, I hope everyone understands the opening few paragraphs. It was supposed to come out funny, and I hope no one got confused : )**

**Nxt Chapt:**

**Fantastic four bonding time. A party. A school dance.**

**REVIEW!**


	22. LA Here We Come Again

**LA Here We Come…Again**

"Rise and shine man, it's the weekend."

"Well, look at you this morning. Its like you're singing from the treetops." Seth wiped groggily at his face to remove any signs of sleep still lingering. "You and Marissa must be happy with your _PUBLIC_ relationship."

"Seth, come on. I thought you were over all of that."

"Dude how can I ever be over it? The girl of my dreams, yes the one I spent all those days rambling about when you first got here, just picked her popularity over me. How can I ever be over it?" Seth scoffed and rolled out of bed, passing Ryan and making a beeline for the hallway.

"Yes I remember, and I also remember you clearly saying you would be satisfied just being in the same room with her for more than a minute without her cursing you out. Well you got that, plus you're her boyfriend."

"How long you think that'll last?" Seth stopped dead in his tracks in the hallway, but didn't face him. "Its only a matter of time before she gets tired of me and breaks it off. After all, who wants a hidden relationship? Not me, and definitely not Summer." He sighed heavily before continuing on and entering the bathroom, slamming it shut.

Ryan sighed as he remained in the hallway, pondering over ideas, trying to figure out how he could possibly get Seth to stop thinking so low of himself. He wasn't even giving it shot.

Then he figured it out. What Seth really needed was to spend some more time with Summer, out of school. And he had an idea of just how he could do that.

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"Coop, what's up?" Summer entered her room and Marissa waved back a tad bit overdramatically in the mirror, and gave a toothy grin. "Someone's in a good mood today."

"Yes I am Summer." Marissa smiled again, and continued applying her makeup as she was doing before Summer came. Summer gave her the look, ushering her to spill, and she couldn't help but blush at how much of a ditz she was being. "I have a date…with Ryan."

"Coop, you always have dates with Ryan. He _is_ your boyfriend after all."

"Well, this one just seems special."

"Why, where's he taking you?"

"We're heading back up to LA. He's taking me to a play then after that, dinner at The Palm."

"Awww, that's so sweet. Who knew Chino had it in him?"

"I know. I mean Luke never even took me on these kinds of dates. So, what are your plans with YOUR boyfriend?" Marissa asked, waiting anxiously for her answer. She figured it was something big, because Seth was a good guy, and probably real romantic; just considering the way he always looks at her like she was the only girl in the room.

"Well, my plan is to head over to Holly's, get smashed, so I can forget about how messed up my life is." She plastered a fake smile briefly, than narrow her brow and rolled her eyes. Marissa, was more than _enthused_ to say the least.

"Sum…you can't avoid him forever."

"Oh yes I can…" Marissa narrowed her eyes at her, and frowned. "Well what am I supposed to say to him? Everything I've _been_ doing, has only been disappointing him and hurting him." Summer sighed, then plopped down on her bed and pretended to read one of Marissa's Cosmo magazines.

Just then, Marissa's phone rang, causing a stir in Summer's pretend reading and Marissa's precision mascara applying.

"Hello…" She heard who was on the other line, and they asked if she was alone. She looked over at Summer, who was still sprawled out on the bed gazing at the magazine vaguely. "Sum, I'll be just a minute." Summer grunted, and she assumed that was an 'okay'. She walked out the room, deciding to take the call outside, and descended down the stairs.

"Okay, I'm alone." She called into the phone.

"_Alright good."_ Ryan sighed heavily, and she could tell he was probably running a hand through his hair right about now. It just seemed like something was on his mind.

"Why, what's up lover boy? Just call to check up on me?" Marissa grinned, trying to lighten up the mood for the conversation.

"_Actually, no."_ Marissa's smile faded faintly, but she still held the phone firmly to her ear. _"Wait, yes. I mean, I kind of…oh crap I don't know anymore."_ She giggled as she listened to Ryan struggling to find the right words. _"It's kind of complicated, it's about Seth and Summer."_

"Hmmm…complicated. That seems about Seth/Summer appropriate."

"_I know, I know, but for some reason, it's really affecting me. I mean Seth won't even talk, much less look at me this morning. I experienced the quietest breakfast on record this morning. I'm just worried about him."_ Marissa smiled, she loved that about Ryan. He cared so much, sometimes a little _too_ much but that was okay, about his friends and family. He would always be there for them, and would do his best to try and cheer them up. It was just who he was.

"I hear you, Summer's the same way. She's in my room right now distracting herself by pretending to read a book so she can avoid any talk of Seth."

" _Well Seth is just not being...well Seth, and I can imagine how Summer's acting. I mean, he's barely…Hang on just a minute, someones at the door_." And he had a pretty good suspicion who it was. He set the phone down, and she could hear a lot of ruffling on the other line. She could tell he was walking towards something, because his footsteps were fading away.

_"Hey man, I was just wondering if you had the new copy of Kavalier and Clay I bought the other day."_

"_Seth, what did I tell you about knocking?" Ryan grunted and retreated back further into the pool house, leaving Seth seated in the chair._

"_Well, I figure it's a waste of physical strength. You could be doing other things with it, like say ahhh…holding your __**girlfriend**__, or say kissing said __**girlfriend**__." Ryan chucked the comic at Seth, and began scooting him out of the room._

"_Bye Seth." Ryan uttered and closed the door before Seth could say anything more._

"_I'm still fine by the way…Just __**FINE**__…Fantastic." Seth's voice faded away as he walked down the patio and entered the house._

"_Marissa?"_

"Yeah" She giggled, which she had been doing all along during Ryan's chat with Seth. She heard everything.

"_I don't suppose you heard any of that?"_

"All of it."

_"Well, how about this. Since you heard Seth, he's clearly not okay. I'm going to invite him with us to LA."_

"Oh…okay." Marissa replied with fake enthusiasm, trying to hide the hurt in her voice that she didn't get to have that romantic date with Ryan anymore.

_"I know you're upset, and I'm sorry. But don't worry, he won't interfere with anything I have planned for today. I'll just drop him off at the comic book store or something. I just want to get him out of the house, okay?"_

"Its okay, honestly Ryan." She smiled warmly at how dedicated Ryan was being towards their date.

_"How about you invite Summer? So they can spend some time togeth-…sorry Riss, gotta run. Seth's trying to barge into my room again. Love you."_

"Love you too." She hung up and ran back up to her room, excited about the news.

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"Dude, I don't wanna be your 3rd wheel on your romantic rendezvous with Marissa." Seth was being dragged out the door by the arm, and Ryan was showing him no mercy. He got him in the car, and took off, before Seth could object and they were on their way to Marissa's.

They pulled up, with Seth still rambling away about something to do with catching second-hand sex, an illness he created that he would catch if he were forced to spend the evening with Ryan and Marissa.

"Coop, no. I'm not coming."

"We're going to see one of your favorite plays, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea."

"Come on Coop, LA's not coming to us." Summer ran ahead of Marissa and was first out the door. She smiled as she chased after her, but it faded slightly at the realization her friend was in for a surprise. Hopefully a welcomed one, seeing as it would be her boyfriend.

"-You know what I'm saying Ryan?"

"Hardly ever…"His eyes drifted away from Marissa's garage to the side of it, where the girls were just now walking down the driveway.

"I mean, she could've been just a tad bit more appreciative of my feelings, right. Its just……._Summer?_" Seth's rant stopped as his eyes were fixed solely on the open back seat door, where none other than the aforementioned girlfriend, Summer Roberts stood in all of her glory.

"Cohen." She plastered a smile and jumped fully into the vehicle, shutting the door. Seth was at a loss for words, here he was just ranting about how badly she was treating him, and then all of a sudden one look at her changes his entire outlook on their situation.

After Ryan and Marissa's _riveting_, in the purest sense of the word for the passengers, greeting kiss, they were off; on the road to LA. Seth couldn't stop himself, he kept sending glances from the corner of his eye over to Summer, which didn't go unnoticed. He finally mustered up the courage, and reached his hand down and entwined it with hers. He looked at her to check for her reaction, but all he was met with was another million dollar smile and her squeezing his hand lovingly.

"Umm, driver. I think you're going to have to put up the privacy window please." Seth stated from the backseat, causing Marissa and Ryan to turn and look briefly at him with curious looks. "Its gonna' get steamy back here." He smirked, and with his new found confidence, broke his hand free from Summer's and wrapped it around her body; squeezing her closer to him.

"Yeah, steam coming from my fists after they're done beating you senseless."

"Aww darling, way to set the mood." Summer rolled her eyes, and folded her arms over top of each other; Seth grinned yet again, and wrapped his arms tightly around Summer's waist and pulled her impossibly closer to him. The past few days, he hadn't even curved his lips in smile, much less show anyone one of his toothy grins. But somehow, Summer broke down all of those walls and had him smiling again.

Ryan and Marissa nodded to each other, signaling their mission was a success, and locked hands for the remainder of the drive, squeezing the other warmly and passionately.

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"I didn't see what the big deal was about that."

"Aww Cohen…It's the classic tale of two bruised hearts finding love within each other." Summer pinched his cheeks together and smiled. The dinner was just as Ryan and Marissa had pictured it. They got their alone time, also Summer and Seth seated away from them so they could have their own cycle of flirting. They were just outside of the theater, where they saw the play remake of _Danny and the Deep Blue Sea_. Summer was more than happy with the evening, Seth on the other hand was struggling to find the concept.

"I don't know, I just don't think it appealed to me much. That's all."

"You know nothing Cohen, I think that play was awesome; that's all that matters."

"What are you going to do? Run around town hitting anyone who disagrees with you?" Summer blindly flung her hand horizontally, not once taking her eyes off where she was walking, and smacked Seth across the face. "Ow! Jesus woman."

"I think I made my point." Summer smiled as Seth continued to rub his arm, and scampered away to join Marissa and Ryan who were just getting to the car. She piled into the car, with Seth chasing her from across the street.

"See Sum, didn't I tell you today was going to be fun?" Marissa asked, as Ryan was pulling out of the parking lot.

"It was okay I guess." Seth shot her look and narrowed his eyes at her. "Okay, okay it was fun. There happy." She plastered a fake smile to make Seth happy, but broke into laughter at the goofy grin Seth gave.

"And Seth weren't you the one who didn't want to come and be the 3rd wheel to me and Marissa?" Ryan smirked as he turned onto the onramp, heading back to Newport. Summer furrowed her brows and shot him a nasty look. Seth reacted per usual, started reeling and spinning the truth.

"W-What Ryan? I never said that."

"You didn't want to come Cohen?" Summer crossed her arms and snarled at him.

"Hey, I have a free pass here, because I never knew the sensuous, beautiful Summer Roberts was going to be here…"He smiled nervously and hoped that was enough to escape bodily harm.

"Good answer."

Seth extended his arm sideways and wrapped it around Summer nonchalantly, and yawned. Summer started chuckling at Seth's lame attempt to get closer, especially when all day he had been pulling her against him whenever he pleased.

"Honestly guys, this was fun." Summer said sincerely and thanked Ryan and Marissa for the trip.

"Same here guys. I got to spend some time with Sum, since nobody was around…"Seth added and quickly focused his gaze out the window. Silence consumed the vehicle, the only noises being the sound of the roaring tires. Summer was upset and close to tears, knowing how bad Seth was hurting due to their arrangements at school. Ryan and Marissa braced up, fearing the worst was about to explode in the back.

Summer fixed her gaze on Seth, studying him to the best of her ability. She could tell from his posture that the conditions of they're dating was affecting him more than he was letting on. He was slouching more in his chair since his comment, and his arm was slowly beginning to fall down to the small of her back, and eventually would be completely off.

She had absolutely nothing to say to him about her actions, words couldn't describe how much it upset her that she always hurt him. It only convinced her more and more that she truly didn't deserve him.

She reached her hand across and lifted Seth's chin up and tilted it towards her, and gazed into his eyes. Those chocolate orbs of his told so much, mainly that he was hurting. She covered the space that was left between them and pressed her lips against his.

Seth didn't react at first, but it didn't take long for him to deepen the kiss. He readjusted his grasp on Summer's waist and pulled her over so she was sitting on his lap. He leaned her back, but managed not to break the kiss.

They finally pulled apart for air, and Seth gave that adorable smile that made her knees go weak. Summer felt unwanted tears begin to flow down her cheeks, and it only prompted Seth to smile at her again, this time more lovingly at her; he reached across and wiped the remaining tears away.

Summer immediately jumped right back at Seth, attacking him with her lips. The one thing she knew that she could do that would please him and not hurt him, making love to him by kissing.

"Awww…don't they look so cute!" Marissa smiled warmly at the sight in the backseat, then returned her gaze to Ryan. She was happy that her best friend was finally being true to herself, at least for the day, and being with the one who makes her happy.

Ryan tilted his head to catch a quick look at what she was talking about, then whipped his head back towards the road, disgusted by the now intense making out going on in the backseat.

He was actually more pissed off that it was always him and Marissa that were in charge of the events, thus leading to them driving, which lead Seth and Summer getting a free ride, and Ryan getting no action from his girlfriend.

"Oh god, get a room." He tapped his foot on the break, but just hard enough to make the wheels sputter, and slow the car down for a second.

Summer came tumbling off of Seth's lap, and fell to the floor. Seth drilled his head off the passenger side seat, and came up from the temporary wreckage in the back moaning and holding his head.

"Jesus Christ Atwood, what the hell." Summer hissed, hollering curses and insults left and right.

"I said get a room."

"Well if we had that privacy window there wouldn't be a problem now would there?" Seth rubbed his bruising forehead, and began to attend to a fuming Summer.

**Next few chapters: A party. School dance**

**Review please.**


	23. The Third Wheel

**The Third Wheel**

"So…Whats up?"

"Nothing…Why are you in here?"

"Dude, I'm in here everyday around this time, it never used to bother you."

"True…"Ryan mumbled, and settled back onto his bed. Seth quickly turned his attention to the TV and started up the PS2.

"So…what have you been up to? Who are you?"

"We got home from school 30 minutes ago...You saw me than."

"It seems like ages ago buddy…" Seth sat down on the edge of the bed, but turned to face Ryan to see what was bothering him.

"Well…Things between Marissa and I have been really awkward…" He looked over at Seth to see if he even cared, and he nodded which pressed him to continue. "I don't know what exactly happened, but things just got weird. We were fine one day, and the next it was weird."

"I'm not a professional psychiatrist or anything, but maybe she's trying to tell you something."

"Like what?" Ryan perked up, immediately interested with the prospect of fixing his relationship. Seth became silent, and started pondering his answer while slaying a zombie on his game.

"It seems to me that…YO DUDE DID YOU SEE THAT? I RIPPED HIS HEAD OFF AND BEAT HIM WITH IT…that maybe she's just bored, not exactly with you but maybe your actions."

"My actions?" Ryan's voice rose, he was incredulous to Seth's point; meanwhile his eyes were fixed on the screen to see Seth's character roam through the level.

"Maybe she wants you to be spontaneous or something. Start expressing your true feelings for her or some cheesy thing like that…"

"I see your point…but don't you think…"

"OH DAMN! I JUST SLICED HIS ASS UP!…If you ask me, maybe you should take her on a date or something."

"Yeah, that sounds good…without you and Summer this time…"

"Don't worry about us, I've got my own little thing planned for her…DAMN!" Seth hollered as he was finally beaten.

"How have things been between you two?" Ryan asked, he rose from the edge of the bed and switched spots with Seth so he could take the controller.

"Not too bad, I've kind of learned to get over the fact she shuns me in public…"

"Good, that's really-"

"NOT! HOW THE HELL COULD I EVER GET OVER THAT, MAN!"

"Seth, we've been through this before…"

"Yeah I know, and every time we do, I get more and more fed up. But don't you worry man, tonight; I'm changing everything. We work on my terms after this"

"Right on man." Ryan smiled and handed the controller back to Seth, showing him he had cleared the level.

"I've beaten that level several times, I just wanted to see if you could."

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A few hours later, Seth came trotting down the stairs, more nervous than ever. His date with Summer a mere 30 minutes away from beginning, and he was having second thoughts. Not about _actually _attending the date, but more about the way it would go. Which were usual pre-date jitters.

All he had told Summer was that he was taking her out and to dress up. His plan was to pick her up in a limo, and than go to dinner at the Yacht Club, one of the most elegant restaurants in Newport.

He entered the kitchen, where the rest of his family was busy eating dinner. They all turned and gazed at him, confused with his dress shirt, tie and dress pants. Sandy began questioning the evolution of family dinners.

"Look at you, looking sharp…" Sandy chimed in and slithered some more Thai into his mouth. Kirsten adored her son, once again reminiscing the past.

"Yeah, well I have a date."

"With who?" Kirsten questioned, trying not to sound too, too interested.

"Oh honey, I bet its that fox that's been over the past couple weeks, isn't it?"

"Yeah, its Summer." Ryan confirmed, and Seth closed his eyes and sighed. Ryan grinned proudly.

"So are they dating now?" Kirsten asked, no longer referring to her son for answers, but Ryan.

"Yep, have been for a few weeks now…" Sandy and Kirsten turned to face their son at the entrance, he still had his eyes closed and was shaking his head.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"You've got to have her over for dinner soon son."

"My little boys all grown up…"

"Jeez you guys, and you wonder why I don't tell you things…" Seth finally answered; his angered statement was only met with smiles from everyone. He'd never be able to pull it off.

"So, where are you taking her?" Kirsten asked, making sure her son had the right mind set for a perfect date.

"Well, the limo will be here shortly and then I'm going to pick her up; then dinner at the Yacht Club."

"Awww…you planned all of this?"

"Who's paying for all of this?"

Kirsten and Sandy both asked in the listed order, Kirsten shooting her husband and annoyed look. Seth squinted his eyes, trying to remember what card he used.

"I think I used the one that we're only supposed to use for special occasions, so I think its Calebs-"

"Excellent, atta boy." Sandy smiled cheerfully, and raised his glass to his son then took a sip.

Seth heard the limousine pull up and honk rather loudly. He said his goodbyes to his family, than strode off for the door and through on his over jacket and headed out the door.

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He knew the Yacht Club was the perfect selection for a dinner date with Summer. One, she wouldn't be constantly checking her surroundings to see if anyone saw her; and two, it was romantic enough for her to actually enjoy herself.

The limo pulled into the Roberts's mansion, and Seth felt his hold on the lone rose in hand tighten. If he held it any longer, it would certainly die and lose all color. He bounced out of the car and walked up and rang the doorbell.

"H-H-Hey S-Summer." Seth stuttered out, unable to take his eyes off of her. He held out the rose slowly, and waited for her to grab it, he was still entranced by her.

"Hey Cohen." She smiled sheepishly and greeted him properly with a kiss. She pulled back and grabbed the rose from his hand. "Aww, for me? You shouldn't have." She peered out the door and saw the limo. "Jeez Cohen, a limo and a rose; you must _really_ be into me huh?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Now I feel like I underdressed…especially with you looking all handsome in a suit and tie."

"I-Its j-just the Y-Yacht Club…Y-You look b-beautiful."

She eyed herself down, as Seth had ever since she opened the door. She had a tight fitted pink dress on, that hugged all of her curves in the right way; just enough to drive Seth wild. The expensive earrings and pearl necklace sparkled off the moonlit sky. She looked amazing. Seth could care less how she dressed, he always felt it wasn't her outfits that accentuated her, it was always her face. She was gorgeous, absolutely stunning. Always the most beautiful girl in his eyes.

"Hello…earth to Cohen." She waved a hand in front of his face to get him to stop staring at her. "The date…?"

"O-Oh r-right you are Summer…"He held out his arm and she giggled, but took it as he led her out the door. Once outside, he waved the driver off dismissively, and decided to open the door himself. She blushed and grinned, the entered the car; Seth following behind.

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"So where's your dad at today?" Seth spoke up, deciding to get the conversation going. It had only been a minute since picking Summer up, and the silence was already eating away at him.

"He left a note saying he was going out to dinner, didn't say where though."

"_Out_ to dinner?"

"Oh relax, what are the chances of him being at the same place we go?"

"I hope you're right, because I'm no where near ready for that."

The car came to a halt, and Seth eagerly opened the door, holding a hand out to help Summer out. She smiled again, showing off those pearly whites of hers, which made Seth even more determined to make this night perfect.

"Reservation for two; Cohen." He informed the waiters and they scrambled around, cleaning the table up as best as they could. They both easily looked the most stunning of everyone in the building. Newpsies all whispered and began to question their own looks, once they caught eye of Summer; all wondering if another boob job was needed.

They were led down the aisle of seats, businessmen and Newpsies chatting away left and right, as the two youngest people in the building finally found their seats. Seth pulled her chair out, which was met with another million-dollar smile from Summer. He swore those alone would be enough to drive him wild.

"Hello and welcome to the Yacht Club…what will you two love birds be getting?" A female waitress came and greeted them with a smile. Summer bit her lip and surveyed the menu, a look Seth found adorable and lowered his menu just to stare at her. The waitress took note of this little moment. "I'll give you two a moment." She smiled cheerfully and nodded at Seth, than dashed away quickly.

"Hmm…I think I'll get..-"

"Summer!" She was cut off from finishing by a voice, and the two teens both turned to face whoever called them. Summer praying it wasn't anyone from school, and Seth praying it wasn't her father. He had been dreading that meeting ever since they got together.

"Dad!" Unfortunately for Seth, his nightmare was fulfilled. Summer smiled cheerfully and set her menu down to go see him. Seth reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"To go see my dad…" She answered puzzled, not seeing what the big deal was.

"But we've got to order."

"It'll only be a minute, I can't _not _say hi to him." She smiled at him, then bent over and planted a kiss on his lips, lingering near for a few seconds, before scrambling away down the aisle to see her dad, who was seated at the bar.

After about 5 minutes, Seth felt like her dad's eyes already burning holes into his back, and was eager for their chat to finish so she'd get back.

"Seth!" He turned and Summer was giddily waving for him to come over. He obliged and treaded over towards the two Roberts'.

"Hello Mr.Roberts." Seth muttered out nervously and held out a shaky hand.

"Hello, and who are you?" Neil smiled and shook his hand.

"Umm Daddy, this is the boy I've been telling you about." Summer leaned over and spoke quietly over his shoulder, though Seth still heard.

"Oh right, the boy from the coma." Seth felt a tingle roam up his spine at the mention of it. It felt like so long ago that had happened, but he only thought happy thoughts of the experience. As gruesome as it sounds, it led him to Summer; he couldn't be entirely sorry about it. "The Cohen's boy. Listen, I heard what happened that night, and I feel I never got a chance to properly thank you. What you did for my daughter."

"I-It was nothing sir, honestly. I would've done it for her any day." He smiled, and with new found confidence, reached across and grabbed Summer's hand. He rubbed over hers with his thumb and she tightened her grip on his hand. Neil, seeing the interaction, could only smile about his daughter's happiness.

"That shows a lot about who you are. I'm sure you'll treat her well."

"Yep, you got it."

"Because you know if you don't, I'm a very powerful man…you don't want to see me when I'm angry." Silence fell over the three, and Summer was pleading with her eyes to give him a chance, her grip on Seth's hand firm and strong. By now, Seth was near pissing himself, and his entire body wouldn't stop shaking. This man was a lot scarier than originally thought. Neil kept his scowl fixed on Seth, and his eyes were burning into Seth and his stony reflection not relaxing for a minute. Seth immediately remembered why he didn't want to face this guy.

"Just kidding boy!" He laughed and patted him on the shoulder, turning to grab his drink from the bar counter.

"H-H-Haha funny M-Mr.R-Roberts. Y-You got me, sir." He smiled nervously, and attempted to let out a laugh, but all that came out were silent whimpers. A huge sigh of relief washed over him. Summer smiled at Seth, fixing her tear glistening eyes on him. The tears had only just began to show because of how cute Seth was, and just everything seemed to finally be falling into place for her. They were happy tears. "You're an everyday Will Ferrell."

"He's not funny…" Mr.Roberts replied with a stony expression, but it was cut short and he laughed. "Just kidding boy, don't get too scared. How about I buy the both of you dinner, my treat." He pulled out his wallet, and handed some cash to Seth, who was still reeling from the second near death occurrence. He had been making mental jokes not to make comedian references when Neil handed the money out.

" Why don't you join us? It'll be a good time for you to get to know Seth." Summer offered, and closed the distance between her and Seth and leaned into his chest and wrapped an arm loosely around him. Seth smiled sheepishly, and nerves were beginning to get the better of him.

When Neil turned to retrieve his drink, Seth glared at Summer, and tried to portray his distain for her offer with his eyes. She took this gesture as another one of Seth's adorable antics, meanwhile it was the opposite, and pinched his cheeks together and constantly whispered that it was going to be fine.

"I'd love to" Neil strode away from his barstool made his way over to Seth and Summer's table.

"Do I get any say in this?"

"No, no you don't" She pecked him on the lips and dragged him off after her dad.

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"I can't believe you did that!" Seth exclaimed, he was fascinated with some of the stories Neil had been telling. He never knew he was an outsider and did a lot of dangerous things when he was a teen.

"Yeah, well I used to be quite the rebel when I was younger." Neil laughed, and wiped the tiny specs of tears away, as he reminisced about the good old days of his youth.

"Who knew you could be such fun?" Neil turned on a whim and faced Seth, and Seth was sent through a panic spiral once again; clinging to Summers' hand, that he'd been holding onto all evening, tighter than ever. "I mean, I just never would've pegged you as the rebellious type of person."

"Nice save…" Neil uttered out before he polished off his glass of wine. The dinner had gone particularly well. All talk was focused on Summer, Neil didn't focus too much on Seth's life, instead enjoyed listening to stories of his daughter. He wasn't too thrilled that she was with Seth, but chalked up to her being sorry for Seth after he took the beating of a lifetime for her, and figured they'd be over probably later on this night.

He still had never heard about all the lusting, watching and lingering from the shadows on Seth's part. Hell, he thought Seth was just like those other jerks Summer brought home. He didn't know about the uniqueness off him and how different he was from everyone else. He certainly didn't know much Seth love- liked her.

The dinner finally came to a close, with Neil waving the teens away and staying behind to pay the bill, Seth led Summer down the front steps and to the limo. The car ride to Summer's was silent, but both were thrilled with the dinner, Summer a little bit more.

They arrived at her house, and Seth once again graciously opened the door and held out his hand, and escorted her up to the door.

"I had really fun tonight Seth." She leaned over and pecked him on the lips. "No ones ever done this for me before." She smiled and her lips lingered near his as she gazed into his eyes.

"I'm just glad you liked it."

"I loved it." She planted another kiss, this time holding it longer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and Seth leaned her back against the door. She felt his tongue beginning to wonder around her lip, and she finally opened up and allowed their tongues to clash together. They broke apart, the need for air getting to them, both with smiles.

"You want to come in and watch a movie or something?" Summer exclaimed, finally catching her breath after the heated kiss.

Seth nodded and kept his eyes focused on Summer, and allowed her to lead him into the house. He drearily raised a hand and waved the limo driver away, before Summer closed the door and attacked him with her lips again.

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The movie wound down, not that either had been watching. They made out for the entire duration, which Seth was thrilled about because it was The Notebook. But Summer got tired near the end, and decided to call it quits on the kissing, and fell slowly asleep; her head resting on Seth's chest and his hand was stroking through her luscious hair.

He quietly weaved his way out of the position he was in with Summer, and was forced to go home. He knew his parents would have questions waiting to fire at him if he didn't come home, and he didn't want another embarrassing encounter with them. He shut off the TV and DVD player without a sound, covered up with blankets, and gave her a goodnight kiss; he lingered over top of her just watching in awe at her sleeping form, before shutting the light off and heading out the door.

"Late night huh?" Seth was startled by Ryan's voice coming from the pool house. The front door was already locked, so he had to enter through the back. He quickly walked in and flopped down on the floor, ripping off his tie and throwing his jacket on the chair.

"You have no idea." He scanned the bedside clock, it was 2:30 am. Ryan chuckled and unpaused the game he was playing.

"What you playing?"

"Zombie game."

"Oohh…stepping it up and killing zombies past midnight, you've got guts"

"You want in?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I need. The fascination of knifing down zombies, a perfect ending for a perfect night."

**Okay, so I've basically got the rest of this story all sorted out. I'd say there is about 5-6 chapters left, I don't know. I'm aiming for around there at least. And I decided I'm ending it with the school dance, but it might not be for the better. I haven't decided whether or not I'm making a sequel, I don't know you decide if its worth it. And if I do, S/S may be in the air…**

**Nxt family dinner; 2. a party.**


	24. Dine and Dash

**Thank you for all of the reviews, it really means a lot you take the time and review for the story. Your input really helps with ideas, and your compliments make it so much better to get more chapters out. I've put a lot of thought into whether or not to make a sequel, but I won't know until I think over the ending first. **

**I apologize for not updating quicker; things have been really tough the past few weeks. Nonetheless, I'm sorry. I'm also going away on vacation for a week and a half, but I promise I'll get back into rhythm with updating. Now all that's left is shaking off the rust : )**

**Thanks,**

**Read, enjoy, and review.**

**Dine and Dash**

Things had been going pretty good for Seth, at least better than they had been recently. In the 3 days since his date with Summer, he felt as though they were beginning to become much closer than before.

_Take exhibit A for instance, during school she's having more and more mental slips than usual, and sometimes she would hold my hand or even peck me on the cheek. Granted, her slight errors always occur when nobodies looking, but I'll take what I can get._

Those recent events had convinced him that Summer truly did want to give them a try, but still was too insecure and afraid of the outcome; she thought it was too big of a risk.

But she _did_ seem satisfied with where things were at right now; Seth on the other hand, was not. He wanted things to progress she wanted to stay neutral. Eventually, one of them was going to be forced to make a decision.

If things were going to really begin to move forward between them, what was being planned today was _definitely _not going to help…

"Hey Sandy, can you check if we have any noodles in that cupboard?"

"Mom no…"

"Umm…Yeah we've got a couple packets honey."

"Oh good."

"Please mom, no."

"What's so bad about wanting to cook a meal for my family?"

"A lot of things actually. The edibleness of the food being one…I'll just go out with Summer somewhere else."

"No, that's exactly why I'm cooking."

"I didn't know you hated her _that_ much mom?" Kirsten narrowed her eyes at him and Sandy just smirked as he continued eyeing over the paper. "Can't you just get Rosie to cook?"

"Very funny Seth. I have no reason to hate her because I haven't spoken to her much. Besides when she came to visit at the hospital." Kirsten cringed at the memory of seeing her son all bandaged up and pale looking from the coma. "I came to bad conclusions with her than, and this would be a good way to get to know her. We can't always depend on Rosie."

"Dad!"

"Sorry son, she's got a point." Seth sighed heavily as Kirsten began humming away and preparing the pots to cook.

"Dad, you can't let her do this." Seth whispered as Kirsten began getting cheerful and giddy with the prospect of cooking. Sandy turned away from Seth and saw his wife biting on her lip and pouting, clearly in deep thought.

"You've got to give her a chance, she's making an effort here."

"Well that effort might make me single again."

"Don't worry I'll handle chef Boyardee, you go get Summer."

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"Summer?" Seth called suspiciously as he entered her room to find it empty. He was now on first name basis with her maid, which in turn, enabled him to walk right in the house.

"Downstairs." Seth heard her call from the bottom of the stairwell.

"What are you doing?" Seth broke the awkward vibe as soon as he entered the living room where he found her. He felt like an idiot for not noticing her when he walked in.

"Shhh. The Real Valley's on."

"Since when do you watch that? Its just another timeless reality show." He cut in front of the TV and around the coffee table to sit beside her.

"Since always, plus it always helps you feel better about your own life and deal with your own inner pain." Summer replied dryly as she was focused on the TV.

"Like you know inner pain…"He scoffed under his breath. Sometimes that girl just doesn't know how good she has it.

"What'd you say?" Summer perked up incredulously.

"Errrm nothing, doesn't matter…So do you have anything planned tonight?"

"Umm, no why what's going on?" Summer asked skeptically as she fixed her gaze on Seth to see if she could find any signs of cracking. He was either hiding something, or something was on his mind and just couldn't let it go.

"My mother decided to try and cook today, so you're wondering where you fit in all of this, well her impeccable timing happens to be the same time you're invited over for a Cohen family dinner."

"Awww that's so nice of her to invite me over, of course I'll come."

"Hold on, I didn't ask you yet. How about I just say you had something else to do and couldn't make it?" Summer gaped and swung an arm freely to the side and smacked him in the chest.

"You can't lie, especially to your mother."

"You lie to the whole school about me." Seth felt the hairs on his neck stand up and he cringed at the realization that he let too much slip. Seth averted Summer's definite steaming gaze, and instead took refuge in staring at the carpet. It was pretty safe to say she wasn't amused. "So dinner, my house…sounds like a blast. Gotta run now though, bye Sum."

He smiled nervously at her, and planted a kiss on her forehead. He gave another uneasy smile and bolted out of the room. Summer was left scratching her head and wondering what the hell was wrong with Cohen.

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"I can't keep doing this man."

"Seth, can we please wait until 9 o'clock for the self absorbed chats."

"Ha-Ha you're out throwing around _hilarious _one liners while I'm in a major crisis lockdown."

"That's what you always do."

"Well, its expected of me Ryan. Your role in our little friendship/brotherhood bonding is to shut up and listen; as I would do for you." Ryan sighed and glanced at his bedside clock and finally sprang up from his comfortable lying position on the bed to face Seth, who was pacing back and forth by the door.

"Fine, but I don't have much time."

"Thank you."

"Before you start though, can you sit down or something? All that pacing back and forth is eventually going to give me a headache."

"You got it…now on to the real issue…" Seth exclaimed as he seated himself on the chair near the door.

"Let me guess…Summer."

"Bingo…well I'm not saying she's the problem or anything, because of course its not, far from it actually. Its just…-"

"-You're still not okay with the dating rules she set." Ryan muttered melodramatically.

"Right on again man, now the way I see it, I can either continue to keep my mouth shut about us and enjoy being with her…but that-"

"-doesn't sound like you at all."

"Exactly, so my only other choice is to confront her about my feelings and hope I don't cross the line and say something I don't mean that jeopardizes our relationship."

"And when exactly do you plan to do all of this?"

"Haven't thought that far ahead yet, but its not going to be tonight because tonight Summer is meeting mom and dad, and I have to be sharp in order to keep any embarrassing comments away from her."

"Uh hmmm sounds fool-proof." Ryan deadpanned.

"Very funny, don't quit your day job brooding though…Anyways, nice talking to you man." Seth breathed in a sigh of relief and strode out the door.

"No problem…"Ryan mumbled drearily than fell backward onto the bed.

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"Dad, did you handle the mom situation?"

"Relax, relax its all taken care of."

"Oh thank god…"

"You can breathe easy son."

"You have no idea how much you just saved me tonight…If she were to come over, endure the mind numbing talks, AND eat the food…I don't even want to think what would happen."

"You must really like her huh?" Seth nodded, but couldn't help the small smile crease onto his lips just thinking about much he liked her. Even though things seemed a bit rocky, she would always have that affect on him, one that he would never shake.

"What exactly did you do to get mom to agree not to cook??" Seth inquired as he became curious as to how Sandy managed to solve the Kirsten-cooking issue before Seth could even comprehend how catastrophic it could turnout.

"She doesn't know anything…I asked Rosie if she could go ahead and continue making dinner for us, and we'll just switch it with Kirsten's when she's not looking."

"Hmm that's pretty risky dad."

"Oh believe me I know. She would not be _too _happy if she found out."

"Nope, not at all."

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Dinnertime came quicker than expected, and time definitely did fly when you played video games. Seth spent the remainder of the day relaxing and playing games.

Even from up in his room, he could smell food being prepared downstairs, and the clanging of pots and pans. The loud and sudden noises managed to shriek through the soothing music coming from his Ipod.

He slowly felt himself drifting away into a relaxing sleep, until he was shaken awake abruptly.

"Hey" He whipped his eyes open to find Summer looking stunning as usual even in just casual wear, perched on the edge of his bed, beaming down at him. All previous anger for being woken up rather harshly had quickly vanished.

"Hi…"He answered groggily and stretched out further on the bed. Summer remained content sitting on the bed, and reached for his hand and entwined their fingers together. "Why are you here so early?" Seth uttered out mid-yawn, causing Summer to giggle.

"Its ten minutes till dinner, your mom told me on the way in…"

"Hmm…must've lost track of time." He eyed his alarm clock suspiciously and began to retrace the day over in his mind to see where he went wrong. "Listen, how about you wait for me downstairs, or even go see what Ryan's up to; he seemed extra-broodish today. I'll be down in a minute."

"Sure." She stood up from her seated position and pranced out the door and through the hall. As soon as she left the room, he sighed heavily and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. He didn't know why, but for some reason all he been doing today was dissecting his relationship with Summer and picking out any flaws in it.

It was almost as if he _wanted_ it to fail, crumble, fall apart; all of it. Obviously, the situation had more of an affect on him than it did on her. She still felt she could have her cake and eat it too, while he was leaning more towards getting a solid answer; one way or the other.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Is everything okay?" Seth entered the kitchen to find Summer and Kirsten chatting away about some article one had found in a magazine as they set the table, while Sandy was cautiously moving food in and out of the kitchen.

"It's all going along smoothly, without a hitch. It's a good idea we _did_ get Rosie to cook, because I'm starving. As much as I love your mother, I just can't be experimenting with her food today."

"Amen to that…"Seth answered wearily as he was more focused on the interaction between Summer and his mom, and how good they seemed to be getting along even after rough beginnings. He turned back to face Sandy, and found him slowly walking in a rather large pot of pasta.

"There…" He uttered out in relief and clapped his hands together in a job well done. "I sure hope Ryan knows what he got himself into when he agreed to take the leftovers from dinner and store them in his fridge in the poolhouse."

"Ouch, hate to be him." Sandy chuckled and began to walk away toward the dinner table but felt a tug on his shirt. "Wait dad, one more thing…. could you maybe…ease back on the childhood talk? Too much might just be enough to keep me without a girlfriend for the remainder of my high school days."

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises about your mother."

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Oh my god Seth, I can't believe you went to camp too. So did I. That is so cute."

"Those were the best days of his life…"

"Oh really?"

"That's a bit of an overstatement wouldn't you say mom?" Seth chimed in quickly, than shoveled more Kirsten-less food.

"How about you What were the best days of your life?" Summer questioned and shifted her gaze around the table. She was more intrigued than ever to find out all she could about Seth and his past experiences. Even if it meant uncovering some embarrassing details.

"Oh boy, dad you don't have to answer that."

"What, you kidding me? Of course I am…hmmm I'd have to say it was back when…"

30 minutes, 3 brief show tune acts, 2 law preaches, and 1 mail truck incident later, it was safe to say Seth had all but lost his appetite. He'd zoned out about a quarter way into his dad's rambling reminiscing speech about the old days, instead focusing on what one quality he had that would be able to shine through and prevail after these horrifying events. Ryan definitely had it right by sleeping through dinnertime.

"-But Summer, you have to see some of the photos from his Camp Takaho days, it used to excite him so much…" Seth snapped back into the conversation to find Summer propped up on one elbow gazing at Kirsten, intrigued by her Seth memories.

"Oh I'd love to see them." Summer smiled and redirected her attention to Seth, who was not pleased at all. She pouted her lip, but couldn't hold it long as she broke into a smile and reached across his lap to grasp onto his hand. She squeezed it tightly, smiling at how adorable Seth looked even when wishing he were anywhere else on the planet.

"Wait a second…as a matter of fact I think they're just over on the shelve by the phone." Kirsten rose from her chair and made a move to prance across the kitchen to the shelving unit.

"And that's our cue to leave…Mom, dad, thanks for dinner. Lets go Summer." Seth made his exit quickly, while Summer lingered around longer.

"You've got to send me those Takaho pictures, he probably looked so cute."

"I sure will Summer."

"Alright bye, thanks for dinner." She gave them both one last smile, before dashing down the hall and out the door to find Seth. Kirsten and Sandy were left in a comfortable silence, one that each embraced with ease.

Kirsten finally began to really focus on the food she was eating, instead of eating blindly away while Seth and Summer were there. She took into count how neither Sandy or Seth made any smart remarks about her cooking, a fact that made her all the more happy. She looked down at her plate, and something odd struck her eye.

"Hey, I never made any corn!"

**So theres an update, I looked at is as kind of a filler, but nonetheless I'm happy with it I guess. Don't expect another update soon as I'm going on vacation as I mentioned before.**

**Please review and tell me what you think. It really does help with the writing and coming up with ideas.**

**Review.**


	25. The Last Night Of Bliss

**Sorry for lack of updates, I've had a lot of homework and to be honest, lost interest in updating fics because of lack of reviews. To be honest, reviews really HELP me with ideas and inspire me to keep writing, so I hope I get positive feedback for this, it would be really appreciated. If not, I might take a break from fics because it's the same for my other stories too.**

**Oh well, might just have to stick it out. Here it is.**

**Read, Review, Enjoy.**

**Last Night Of Bliss**

The week rolled through with no hitches, aside from Summer's usual dating rules being thrust into action at school, things seemed to be going smoothly. Nothing was said or done to prove them otherwise.

_After_ school hours, they were inseparable. Spending dinners together, albeit usually at the others house as going out publicly was still an ongoing issue with Summer, cuddling with each other on the couch and watching movies.

_During_ school however, proved to be a different story. They spent close to no time with each other, which was probably the reason for their inseparable after hours time. Seth decided to try and redevelop his friendship with Anna, while Summer was getting drawn back into the life of popularity.

Neither was particularly happy with what was going on. Summer wasn't pleased with Anna back in the picture, and Seth sure as hell wasn't happy at all with that tool Justin trying to make amends for what happened in the past.

It was Friday afternoon, and the bell rang signaling the end of the day. Students scrambled left and right in a hurry to get away from the torture chamber they called school, and Seth was last to his locker. He collected his homework and jammed it into his bag, then sprang for the exit doors closest to his wing.

He walked stiffly as he spotted the Cohen car out in the car park, with Ryan waiting impatiently. He awaited a car to pass by so he could cross the street to the parking lot, but something caught his eye. He spotted Summer chatting away and laughing uncontrollably with several Harbor jocks and even grazed their chests a few times during her laughing fit. The 4 tools just grinned and leaned against their hummers and beemers. He remained frozen and watched Summer and the idiots joke around and chat, trying to use his jedi mind powers to get her to turn and spot him.

Eventually, just that happened; her eyes crossed paths with Seth's and he could already see her insecurity level rising. The 4 jocks in front of her took no notice in her lack of attention, as her eyes were locked on Seth for the moment. He smiled back at her and raised his hand, which was met with an extremely nervous smile and a half wave-half scratch of the head.

He sighed heavily, and continued on his way across the street toward the car park.

"It took you long enough."

"Nice to see you too, Ryan." Seth retorted with the same grouchiness and dullness as Ryan. Ryan jumped off the hood of the range rover and walked around to the drivers seat. Seth piled into the passengers seat, with Summer still in his sight.

"You know you can make things easier and just talk to her." Ryan explained as he sensed Seth's lack of concentration as they remained silent in the car looking out at the emptying school. Seth watched as one of the taller jocks leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

"Not without jeopardizing our relationship though." He sighed heavily, and lowered his head, unable to watch anymore. Ryan frowned at him. That just seemed completely bizarre. "Hey man, her words not mine."

"Well I'm getting tired of seeing you like this. You've got to make a decision one way or the other. If you don't like things the way they are, do something about it. If you're only intention is to _be_ with her, like it was from the beginning, than you should just deal with it."

"Wow I've never heard you say more than 5 words." Ryan narrowed his eyes at him and snorted. "No, no I got it though, you're right." Ryan finally started the engine, and Seth looked to where Summer was to see if he could get one last glimpse of her. Even if things were rocky, it was always worth it to see her smile…even if it was caused from someone else. But to his surprise, her car was no longer there and the jocks had cleared out too.

"Hey Cohen." Seth shifted his gaze from the front window to directly beside him, where Summer's car was parked. She grinned at him and waved. "Hey Atwood."

"Uhh hey Sum."

"Roberts." Ryan confirmed. "Have you seen Marissa today? I didn't catch her after school."

"Oh yeah she's staying late today because of planning for the year end prom." She explained confidently. "Speaking of planning, what are we up to tonight? Its Friday night Cohen…" She uttered seductively.

"Well when you put it that way, I was thinking about hanging at my house and watching a movie." He shot back with the same passion and desire as Summer. Was he ever looking forward to spending some quality time with her, especially with the way things had been going and…well what she was wearing definitely was a deciding factor.

"Are you serious? Come on Cohen, we do that everyday."

"I never hear you complaining once you're over." He quirked back, knowing full well she _enjoyed_ herself once she was over.

"That's different, besides today's Friday. I heard there was a party at Holly's tonight."

"Who'd you hear that from…Justin?" Seth mumbled under his breath, but Summer heard it full well and sighed. She really didn't know what was up with him, she thought everything was fine. At least, he hadn't said exactly if something was wrong.

"When _isn't_ there a party at Holly's?" Ryan chimed in, interrupting her pondering over Seth and receiving a glare in the process. "I'll be quiet now."

"Come on Cohen…please?" She offered those puppy-dog eyes that at the moment, wanted to ignore, especially when he was in such a crappy mood. But it was Summer, so he couldn't help but give in. "I promise you won't be disappointed…" She trailed off, leaving the rest to his imagination.

"Tonight…Holly's…can't wait." He smiled nervously, which Summer chose to ignore. She scanned the surroundings, noticing everyone had left long ago, and closed the distance between the two vehicles, and pecked Seth on the lips. She pulled back and grinned back at him once more, before pulling away.

"Well I'm assuming you're fine with just being with her for now, after witnessing that."

"What?" Seth muttered out wearily as he was still more focused on Summer's now disappearing car in the distance and recovering from her kiss that always left him breathless, than listening to Ryan. "Oh I mean, no of course not."

"You didn't quite help your cause to have a public relationship by acting like a lovesick puppy and obeying her every word."

"What can I say Ryan, I'm whipped."

"I'll say…"

"But not nearly as much as you are."

"Psh yeah right, you've got to be kid-…" Ryan started but was interrupted.

"Ryan! Thank god you're here." They both turned to see who it was, and sure enough, the one and only Marissa Cooper was scampering across the parking lot toward them.

"Ah! Marissa, what a surprise!" He feigned excitement and had his mouth open in fake disbelief as she approached his side.

"Hey you guys, Ryan I was wondering if you could give me a hand." Seth turned away from to face his brother, smirking the entire time.

"Did you hear her Ryan? She needs you to help her out." Seth chimed with his mouth still wide open and his hand covering, while Ryan grunted.

"What's up?" He completely ignored Seth and focused on his girlfriend.

"Well we're building a model for the prom that we want to place at the front doors, and I figured since you like construction ,you could help out."

"Sure…" He replied through gritted teeth.

"Alright thank's. I've got to get back inside, I swear those girls can't do nothing without me." She gave her signature smile and made her way around the vehicle to give Ryan a kiss, before trotting back toward the school.

"Hmm…you were saying something…I just can't seem to remember what it was." Seth broke the temporary silence as Ryan groaned and unbuckled his seatbelt.

"You take the car home." Ryan informed with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"Oh I've got it! It was something about being whipped…"

"Shut up Seth…" Ryan groaned and opened the door. They both exited the car and began swapping places, Seth in the drivers seat and Ryan trudging toward the school.

"Ta ta Ryan!" Seth hollered after him, which was met with the 'Atwood glare'. He smirked back at him, then sped out of the parking lot.

* * *

"Suuummer hurry up!"

"One more word and I swear you'll regret ever being born."

"Believe me I already do."

"Can it Cohen, don't make me come out there and kick your ass."

"Please do, so we can get a move on already." Seth hollered back from the other side. "God did I just 'get a move on'?"

"You're not helping speed things up with your constant whining."

"Why do I always have to be the gentlemen and agree to pick you up?"

"Because if you didn't, you wouldn't get to see me and find out how much I appreciate you for it." She responded as Seth nodded and sighed.

"True. But sometimes I just wish we could agree to meet up there, it would save so much time."

"Well constantly babbling away to me isn't speeding things up."

It was 8:30 and Seth was waiting rather impatiently in her room as she was 'glaming' up as she liked to call it. Even for the littlest things such as a Holly Fisher party, where 70 of the attendees ended the night in next to nothing, Summer still had to go all out.

She finally emerged from the bathroom, grinning broadly at the look on Seth's face. He was about to start on another rant about time management, but was now struggling for words to describe her appearance.

Beautiful seemed to be getting overused now every time he described Summer. But she was in fact just that, in every sense of the word.

"Alright Cohen, enough drooling. Can we get going now?"

"Yes ma'm"

* * *

He saw the look in her eyes, and knew it couldn't be good as they pulled onto Holly's street, which was lit up by dazzling lights that enhanced the exquisite homes. Seth finally found what Summer was concentrated on, and was already fearing the worst.

Basically, her entire old life lay just ahead of her in the form of a rocking house and partying Newport socialites. She had cut down on the amount of parties she attended since she and Seth started their little, messed up dating scheme, and already she was feeling the itch as she saw several of her old friends laughing and having a great time.

Seth swerved away from the house, leaving Summer ogling backward after it as he parked further down the street. As he pulled in, Summer instantly shot for the handle so she could begin scampering down the road back to the raging party. Seth however, was way ahead of her, and shot the locks shut.

"Cohen! What the hell!" She barked as she began to use her fingernail to open the lock. "Let me out!"

"Can we just hangout in here for a while?" Seth offered, which was met by a glare from Summer but she turned away quickly to continue picking her way out. He sighed, as his attempt to spark _anything _between them failed, and grabbed onto her hands. "Summmmeeerrr…we're all alone…" He uttered seductively from behind her into her ear.

"Cohen, please I'm not in the mood, can we please just go." Seth sighed as his last chance at keeping Summer from the party, and essentially back to her old life failed and he opened the doors. He was now doomed for a night full of watching her from afar and basically supervising her as if she were a child. That's what their relationship had come to, and neither liked it.

Summer sprung out the door and began pacing her way down the sidewalk, while Seth trudged out the door to catch up to her. She finally reached the front of Holly's house, when Seth suddenly pulled on her hand and tugged her back.

"Can we just talk for a minute?" Seth pleaded with her, which caused her to sigh. She really didn't feel like dealing with this right now, and she knew exactly what Seth wanted to talk about. Which was why getting into the party was now priority number one, so she could forget all about her troubles and Seth problems.

She felt terrible for treating him like crap, and new certainly that he deserved a hell of a lot better than being dangled around on a string.

"Please Cohen, can we not do this now. I promise we can talk to tomorrow." She sighed heavily, frustrated with herself for even being in the situation she was in. Having a great guy and completely treating him like shit. Tomorrow definitely wasn't looking too bright.

She avoided his gaze, but knew he understood her. He always would, it was just who he was. Seth squeezed on her hand, but she still refused to look at him fearing one look at him and she'd break down right there.

"Yeah its alright Sum, whatever you want." He loosened his grip on her hand and she began to squirm away. Until a wave of passion and desire surged through him, and he tightened his grip and pulled her back into him.

"Cohen what the he-…" She was now fed up with him, but was startled by what she was dragged back into. He pulled her in close, and lifted her chin up so she was looking right into his eyes. He began to softly stroke her cheek with his other hand, a move that drove her wild every time, and finally closed the gap between their lips, igniting the sparks even further that were already flying.

She felt his tongue begin to trace along her bottom lip, a sign she instantly picked up on, and opened her mouth to allow him entrance. It was amazing that Seth was inexperienced with women before her, because from all of his kisses, she sure couldn't tell. She began to softly moan into the kiss and Seth's hands fell down to her hips and pulled her in tighter.

Eventually they broke apart for air, Summer with a stunned expression and Seth smirking.

"Go have your fun Sum." He replied and shot her one last smile before breaking off into the party ahead of her. Summer was left feeling even more guiltier, but couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face for having a wonderful guy like Seth.

* * *

"Hey." Seth shook his fading gaze from the floor to the person seated beside him.

"Oh hey Anna.."

"I just wanted to say sorry about everything that's happened between us in the past few months."

"Its okay…" He replied drearily. His attention was focused on Summer dancing rather seductively with two guys, Justin and another water polo guy, and he didn't like it one bit. Anna sensed his mood, and decided to keep things rolling along.

"So how are things going?"

"Oh you know, just fine, watching my girlfriend dance with another guy. But other than that just fine." He muttered angrily.

"Girlfriend? Who?" Seth cringed at Anna's words, realizing nobody really knew about him and Summer. Anna smirked as she watched Seth scramble around; but she knew full well that they were dating, and hoped to change it.

"Uhhh its nothing." Anna nodded with a smirk on her face as they both fell silent. "Listen Anna, I've gotta get Summer home I'm responsible for her seeing as I gave her a lift and all" He sighed as he saw how hard the task was going to be as Summer's near unconscious body continued to spark up the dancefloor.

"Okay then, bye." He smiled briefly then began to head for Summer.

"Hey wait." Anna shot her head up at this. "We should maybe, ummm hangout sometime…if that's okay with you?"

"That sounds great!" Anna replied with a grin on her face. Seth nodded one more time and waved, then made his way toward Summer.

"Summer." He called but was cut off by Justin blocking him off from her. "Summer."

They had been at the party for about 2 and half hours and everyone was now trashed out of their minds. Seth had watched Summer closely over the duration of the party, making sure she didn't do anything she'd regret later.

"Okay that's it." He said to himself as the guys and Summer continued to ignore him, though Summer didn't appear to even comprehend what he said. "Get away from her! We're leaving." He snaked his hand inside and split them apart, receiver angered glares from the guys.

"Cohen!" She gave a goofy smile and wrapped her arms around him, a move she could get away with considering her state.

"Lets go Sum, I'm taking you home." She pouted her lip but obliged, Seth couldn't help but smile at her adorable face. Seth guided her away from the designated dancefloor, walking past the angered Justin and water polo player, deciding to just smirk at them so he could parade Summer off in front of them, and they walked out the door. Although, Summer was having trouble getting her right foot to come after the left, so Seth leaned her against the door once they were outside, and picked her up; cradling her in his arms.

It amazed him at how tiny and light she was, but figured it all added to her charm. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as his hands supported her back and her legs. He quickly reached the car and placed her in the backseat comfortably, with her still babbling away.

He sped off without another word to Summer and even she could sense the hostile mood Seth appeared in.

* * *

"Alright Sum, I'm going to take off."

"No don't go!" He sighed heavily and scratched his head. "Pleeeease can you s-stay?"

"I think it would be better if I went home. We'll talk in the morning." He saw her mood change from ecstatic to hurt within seconds, as her body slouched deeper into the sheets as she lay staring up at the ceiling. Seth remained seated on the edge of her bed. He sighed again, knowing he wasn't going to get home.

"Oh alright." She shot her head up, smiling brightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked him quickly on the lips.

"Thanks Cohen, I-I just don't w-want to s-spend another night alone." She replied weakly, and Seth studied her face. These were the things he loved about Summer above her appearance and the added hotness that was her. The times when she let out too much or said things she wasn't supposed to say about her _actual_ life, and not the one everyone assumed she had. He knew for certain she had issues to, just like everyone else.

He was snapped awake by Summer pulling the blankets out, leaving room for him on the other side of the bed.

"I'm not tired yet Sum, but you should get some sleep."

"Oh…okay."

"Don't worry I'll be right here. I'm not going anywhere." He smiled at her and received a druken goofy grin. She leaned up one last time to kiss him, before falling back down on the bed and crashing instantly.

Seth's smile faded as he was now left sitting on the edge of the bed just watching Summer, one of his favorite pastimes. He traced a hand up her leg and eventually made his way up to her face and brushed some strands of hair away, to view her perfect face.

He remained like that for a good portion of the night, switching his gaze from her and stroking her cheek, to staring blankly at the wall, lifeless as can be. Tomorrow definitely wasn't going to be a good day, but he knew it had to be done. He couldn't go on like this, and neither could Summer.

The way Summer treated him had to end, hopefully the relationship doesn't crumble apart in the process….

**I feel pretty good about that chapter. I know its been a while since I updated, but I don't think I lost any flare or whatever.**

**PLEASE review. Thank you, hope you liked it.**

**Trouble in paradise. Last day of school. The dance.**


	26. The End's Not Near, Its Here

**I believe this is my first post in about 5 months, so I'm trying to get back into a groove with this story. Surprisingly I haven't been hit by any sort of Writer's Block since I've began writing O.C fics, its been more or less things beginning to pile up in my life and everything started snowballing ever since. But enough about that, here is the post. I hope everyone enjoys it, I had a tough time originally planning this all out but I believe it turned out okay. There will only be 5 or less chapters remaining.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the O.C **

**The End's Not Near, Its Here**

"...Errmm god what time is it?" Summer woke up to a pounding headache and an upset stomach, obvious symptoms from whatever she did last night. Which she couldn't exactly remember at the moment.

"Good morning to you too, darling." Seth's sarcastic grin made her stomach twist and turn into even more condensed knots than a hangover could ever do. How could he go about so happy and cheerful at this ungodly hour. "Wake up _princess_ its 1:00."...Oh.

"PM?" Summer rolled over to the other side of the minute, trying to salvage one last ounce of sleep before receiving the inevitable answer from Seth.

He looked around the room and out the window, then scratched his head. "I certainly hope its 1:00pm or else I'll look like a fool." Summer just brushed the annoyance off and finally sat up on the bed.

"How did you sleep?" Summer decided to keep the conversation rolling along before the inevitable awkward silence caught up to them, which it usually did.

"Umm...not bad. You know, the couch could've been softer but I managed." Summer turned back to face him, with a confused look upon her face.

"Why didn't you just sleep in my bed? I don't bite."

"Oh well you know, you looked all cute and comfortable there, and when I decided to turn in I didn't want to wake you." _Lie. Lie, lie, lie Cohen and you know it. You know the real reason, you just would never admit it to her._ Seth remained idle on the couch, as did Summer, staring at the wall incessantly. It would be a lie to say that Seth and Summer were not having a rough time and that everything was perfectly fine. It was coming to a point where Seth was having a hard time finding even a positive thing about them, the negative just seemed to outweigh the good. He was clearly weighing Summer down, and as was she to him. But both were too ignorant to admit it.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower." Seth shot his head up just in time to catch Summer dash across the room to grab her robe and towel, then exit into the hallway. She never had a problem changing in front of him. Matter of fact, just the other day, she had no problem getting changed in front of him for school. Things certainly change in a day.

Seth finally lifted himself off the bed and sourly made his way out the door and down the stairs. He was filled with a feeling of dejection and hurt, an unhealthy amount albeit, and it just seemed like it would never end. He knew exactly what the next step in the _relationship_ was, and he certainly didn't like it. Summer knew as well, but it had to be done. He wasn't going to continue to be Summer's doormat while she went out and socialized with everyone _except _him.

However, there was one last ditch attempt he could take to gain some confidence back in himself and the decision he was about to make before the big face-off.

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"_Ah-low..._"

"...I think that was a hello."

"_Hahaha oh man you're done."_ Ryan was on the other end, polishing off the leftovers from the previous dinner.

"Oh come on, you didn't cover for me? Dude, I said I would keep quiet about the LA bar incident."

"_And that won't change either. Your parents have been asking about you all morning."_

"...and what did you tell them?"

"_I told them you needed to sleep in."_

"Oh dude thank god. I so would've been burned on the stake."

"_-But Seth, there is only so long that will last. Pretty soon you'll be running out of daylight if you're gone any longer."_

"...and I know that, but I just called to ask you for some help-..."

"_-what else is new..."_

"Hey!...okay so anyways, its about Summer-..."

"_-what a surprise..."_

"Ryan seriously, lets show the same professionalism as you would if this were in the poolhouse." Ryan smirked and then ungracefully sprawled out on the bed. He had a feeling he would be doing a lot of listening from here on out. "I'm thinking of confronting Summer about everything."

"_I never knew there was even something to confront about."_

"Come on, you can't honestly say you haven't noticed anything." Ryan paused on the other end from releasing another smart comeback, and actually took a minute to ponder Seth's words. When Seth first started telling him all about Summer and his dream of dating her, to be truthfully honest, he thought the entire concept was just a tad strange and maybe Seth needed some help. But once Seth, to his amazement, actually accomplished his dream, he began to have second thoughts about everything. Truthfully, he didn't think Summer deserved anything from him or even appreciated him...to this day even he still believed it. His original breakdown of everything was that Summer felt guilty for landing Seth in a coma and she wanted to repay him. But oh how things have changed...

"_What are you going to do?" _Ryan waited for a response as even he was curious about how Seth planned on going about all of this.

"Well, I think I'm just gonna lay it all out on the line...let the facts speak for themselves you know?"

"_Sure..."_

"Oh god, you don't think it'll work out do you?" Seth paced the main foyer in the Roberts' home with increased paranoia. "No, no, no, what am I doing? This will never work...Ryan...Ryan?"

"_Gotta go, good luck..." _He whispered then snapped the phone shut.

"Who was that?" Sandy entered the poolhouse with an armful of bags, obviously Ryan's share of the groceries for his fridge. Sandy set them down with a thud and took a second to catch a breather.

"Umm...wrong number."

11111111111111

"So...Cohen..."

"Summer..."At last the much anticipated awkward silence caught up with them, Summer standing in the doorway in her robe and towel wrapped on her head; Seth standing on the far side of the room, well away from her. He couldn't even say she looked smokin' hot or anything of that nature at the moment due to his fear of what her response would even be. It was definitely as if they were strangers to each other. "Umm...you look pretty."

"Ha! I have a piece of cloth covering me and towel wrapped around my head, but whatever you say." _Cold...icy cold_. Seth could tell that she too had become painfully aware of the different atmosphere as she hesitated before grabbing her clothes. The two finally exchanged their first good look of each other, only it could've come under better circumstances. Seth stood there, trying to figure her out while Summer was standing impatiently.

Seth finally got the hint. "...Oh right, I'll let you change."

111111111111111111

_Wow Cohen, you really are going to do it aren't you? You just don't spend practically your entire childhood dreaming of being with a girl just to end things within a few months, you just don't._

"So what do you want to do? I heard there is a few parties going on down..." Summer gathered her purse and made one last ditch attempt to stop this from happening. Once it started, it was not going to end happily.

"-how about we have a talk." Seth was seated on the front couch and had his hung low, finding the carpet more entertaining. Summer entered the room very cautiously and sat in the sofa across from him. As expected, the awkward silence once again fell overtop of their heads and the only noise being generated was that of the Robert's grandfather clock.

_Tick_

"What do you want to talk about?"

"...Summer please, you know this isn't easy."

_Tock_

"What are you talking about? What's the matter Seth? Is everything okay?" Summer asked confusedly.

"Don't act like you don't know what this is about..."

_Tick_

"Something obviously isn't working, and its probably me because I clearly don't have much experience with this kind of stuff," he finally raised his eyes to glance at her but she had her eyes closed, "Maybe its like this with all of your boyfriends, but I just don't like being treated this way."

"What are you talking about?" She had to maintain her dominance over him, it was the only way this thing was going to pan out in her favor,

"I'm tired of being your doormat Summer. I don't just want to be used whenever it is convenient for you." Summer kept her eyes closed and took a heavy breath.

_Tock_

"If you would just let me in Summer, let me completely in, none of this childish bullshit." Summer grew increasingly stiff and finally opened her eyes to see Seth very frustrated and angry. It was one of the rare times he had actually raised his voice, and did it sure ever send chills down her spine.

"If its all a bunch of bullshit, why are you still with me than? You can just fucking leave."

"Well, I still believe there's more to us than what's been going on pretty much...well...ever since we started _dating_," he emphasized choice words and made them count. He definitely wanted everything out on the table, and there sure was plenty more to come.

"Well, _Seth_, why can't you just be happy with what we've got? Maybe this is all I'm comfortable with."

_Tock_

"You can't be serious." She nodded her head and crossed her arms. "Oh my...Summer! You won't even let me hold your damn hand at school, I can't text or call you at school, and worst of all, I have to sit back and watch you flirt with other guys and dance around with whoever you please at parties."

"Who are you to judge me?" She fired back with even more iciness than before. "Maybe I enjoy having a social life instead of being a big dork and getting picked on by every single person in the school."

"Right, because that's the _real_ problem here." Summer just rolled her eyes. Why did they have to be doing this now? Things were fine, well relatively, before...weren't they? Seth suddenly spoke up in a tone so low and hurt that it caught her off guard. "I mean Summer...when is the last time

we've actually hung out together?" His eyes were low and averted, as he began to fiddle with his hands.

_Tick_

"We hangout all the time, take last night for example."

"You were wasted, and spent about 5 minutes with me before we went in; even then you were struggling to get away from me." This time, Summer didn't have a response. "I'm not saying I didn't have fun whenever we _did_ hangout, because I did. I had such a great time with you Summer, I got to finally see some of the real you that you allowed me to see. I'll never forget all the times we spent together, I mean especially how I'll never be able to look at a jumbotron screen again," he briefly smirked as he recalled his memorable kiss with Summer at the Lakers game.

_Tock_

"-Hold it Cohen, not so fast...you're acting as if one of us is dying or moving away..."

"I just think it would be best if we don't see each other after this...or hangout, you know? Its hard enough as it is. We've been through so much...the whole Justin/Anna drama..."

"No, Cohen, I don't know." Seth rose from the couch and peered down at her, hoping that Summer was prepared to fight for their relationship just as he was.

"Yes Summer?"

_Tick_

"Umm...actually I've got a date with Justin...well not a date, but like a lunch...date." _wow Summer, that sounded completely stupid_.

"Yeah I understand..." he moved for the door. "It was only a matter of time before you went whoring yourself around to Justin again," he muttered under his breath and began to open the door.

"Excuse me? Now you're calling me a whore? Get the fuck out."

"What do you think I'm doing?" she rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands out of frustration.

_Tock_

"Just get out...go find your little bimbo blonde girlfriend." Seth was about to retaliate with another Seth Cohen retaliatory zinger, that is until he realized what was going on. Why was he now the bad guy?

"Maybe I will...I bet she won't treat me like shit. Hey! Maybe I can hold her hand.

"Fuck you."

"Wait a second, why are you mad at me? I should be furious at you; this is all your fault."

"You've made that abundantly clear, now just get the fuck away from me." Seth was standing in the doorway as Summer was pressing against it trying to end this nightmare. He could see she was beginning to cry, and finally everything made sense.

"No wait Summer, don't cry I didn't mean any of that..."

"Just leave Seth." The only thing that stuck out in his mind was the 'Seth', which is funny seeing as it is his name. But he was used to being her _Cohen_. She was the only one that called him that on a consistent basis; matter of fact, he couldn't even recall the last time she actually called him Seth other than being pissed off.

She had her head rested against the door and was sniffling, avoiding his gaze completely. It crushed him to see her like that, but things were different as of the past 20 minutes. He couldn't bury her in his chest and hug her like before; they had changed.

"Alright Summer..."

"Goodbye Seth." she finally was able to freely close the door, and she did so without hesitation as soon as Seth stepped away. He was left standing outside staring at the door; he heard footsteps running up the stairs and he knew undoubtedly that she was going to continue crying because of him; it was all his fault. He had hurt Summer Roberts. But wasn't that his intention? Putting everything on the line in a grand finale sort of way.

Summer was no longer his girlfriend...it hit him like a bullet as he remained outside her door, staring at the wooden frame. She was just on the other side of the door, yet so far out of reach.

"Goodbye Summer..."

111111111111111111111111111111111111111


	27. A Path Less Traveled

**Oh hey, it****'****s 2010**

**A Path Less Traveled**

Apparently, there was a life _after_ Summer Roberts. It consisted of sleep-ins until dinner time, the watching of cheesy television programming, and Death Cab for Cutie's _Transatlanticsm _album on repeat. It had been one mere day since his fateful conversation with Summer, in which they yelled at one another and eventually led to the dismantling of the odd relationship they had been having. While he was still participating in his usual Seth Cohen Protocol for a Broken Heart, which involved his necessary rants to Ryan, brooding in his room and avoiding of the parents, this time around didn't seem quite the same as the others.

Maybe he had matured in the past 4 months. Or maybe this was simply a case of "been there, done that" and he was just tired of sulking over Summer. After all, when he put his relationship with her into perspective that was all it really came down to; it was all he had ever really known. High expectations only to see them come to a crashing end. Maybe that was where he was wrong in the first place. It was selfish of him to hype Summer up as this superior being incapable of fault, a being that was an actor in the play Seth desperately wanted to come to fruition in his head.

"How about we wake up and eat some dinner huh?"

"Too tired."

"How can you be 'too tired'? All you've done since Friday is sleep." Ryan gazed at the motionless lump curled in the blankets and sighed. He hated that Seth's poor mood affected him this much. But he just wasn't one to turn a blind eye when a family member was in trouble, especially a Cohen. He owed them far too much. "Now get up, you're coming with me to the pier."

"Do I have a say in the matter?"

"No." Ryan flickered the lights on and off, and backed out of the room leaving the lights on. Seth rolled out of his tightly ravelled blankets and sighed, exposing himself to the light and fixing his gaze on the slow moving ceiling fan. His current situation felt an awful lot like the Seth Cohen of old, with the brooding alone in his room listening to his music. He sat up at the edge of his bed and stared at himself in the mirror. The reflection he saw was not a pretty one. His hair was dishevelled, he had the makings of a faded stubble beard, and an overall complexion of a broken man.

He took one last look around his room, then finally rose from the bed. He tossed on his clothes from the previous night and trudged out the door to find Ryan.

* * *

How badly did she wish to swap lives with April Flannigan, lead character on the hit TV show _The _Valley. Her life was so perfect, so easy. As it turns out, watching VH1's _Best Week Ever_ to shed light on your shitty week didn't do much for Summer Roberts. She spent most of her weekend holed up in her room watching her reality shows, thinking up all the different scenarios that could play out for her in the coming weeks. Boys were a problem for her, and it was seemingly a magnified problem this year. Seth Cohen had become a problem for her; funny, seeing as just last year Seth Cohen served no significance in her mind at all. But this wasn't to say that Seth was a bad problem, he was a good one if that makes any sense. The whole situation was so messy to begin with that she was beginning to get lost in it all herself.

Seth's entrance into her life had brought nothing but good things for her; he made her happy, this was for certain. She couldn't recall any of her past "boyfriends" that made her feel the way she does whenever they were around. The feeling Seth invoked in her was overwhelming, it was so powerful that it sent her into frenzy. She simply did not know what to do or how to act around Seth; he made her feel vulnerable, in a good way of course, something she had never experienced before. Seth's charm was undeniable, and she had clearly fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

Summer flicked through the channels and settled on another teen drama, her third one today. Sundays were always her leisure day, allowing her to rest up for the coming week and all of its surprises. However this particular Sunday, she was somewhat paranoid towards what the week had in store for her. Other weeks she would assume she would coast through school, hit the beach and scope out some guys, shop with Marissa, maybe a mid-week party at Holly's if she was up for it, then end the week with another party. She had a feeling this week was going to be drastically different. Senior Prom was on the horizon, and the atmosphere at the school was beginning to buzz. Yet, all Summer could think about was that she had hurt Seth, unintentionally of course but actions speak louder than words, or more correctly lack of words. Their last conversation did not end on the brightest terms: Seth let himself out in the open for her, an ultimatum which she was unsure of how to answer. Seth wanted progress, she could only offer indecisiveness. In the end, they of course ended by trading hurtful blows to one another, which lead to her weekend of seclusion.

No one had bothered her, save for the odd phone calls from Marissa and several drunken text messages from Justin. Despite the obvious warning signs which signalled in her head about Justin, more specifically about his abundant stupidity, he too had something which drew her in. Maybe it was completely a physical attraction, which was understandable as he certainly was easy on the eyes. But she had always told herself that, much like how Seth had viewed Summer, there was more to Justin then met the eye. She desperately wanted to believe this, but recent events with him told her otherwise.

Why wasn't this an easy decision like it appeared on paper? Seth Cohen, the good guy, was head-over-heels attracted to her, polite, respectful, handsome, was there for the taking, yet she still had a fear. Her current life was all she had ever known. What Seth wanted to start with her seemed so real, compared to her past boyfriends whom had all come from the same group of friends as her. Meaning, if things went south between the two (which often they did) she remained unaffected socially and things would quickly go back to normal. But with Seth, there was serious potential for this to spread outside of high school. Summer dreaded the end of high school, it meant entrance into the real world of hard labour, bills, responsibility…she just couldn't do it.

Yes, life in _The Valley_ would be just perfect.

* * *

"You understand how bad of an idea this is, right?" Seth grumbled as he bent down to pick up the ball yet again. After therapy along the pier failed, Ryan rummaged through the range rover for his football. They had just begun to toss the ball around, Seth had managed to drop every pass thrown to him. It wasn't as dumb as it sounded. For Ryan, if he were ever in a situation which appeared utterly hopeless such as Seth…well, he could always take his frustrations out through hammering away on a punching bag, or if this failed, a fight. For Seth, this wasn't such a lucrative option. Sure, sports were not his forte but it was the next best option to doing something stupid like fighting Justin or one of the water polo players, which was still possible to happen on Monday. Ryan couldn't stand seeing Seth go through the social struggles which he did. The thought of what it must have been like to be in a coma like Seth had been was chilling.

Getting out of the house on a beautiful day like today could be just what he needed, as well it didn't hurt either that there were plenty of women to gaze at on the beach. Seth headed no attention, as he struggled to master the art of Catch. "You act like its rocket science, anybody can do it."

"Actually, I think I would be better off if there actually were a formula to it." Ryan smirked and awaited the pass: a wobbly spiral which landed no where near him and at foot level. He laughed and shook his head, while Seth could only throw is hands up in defeat. "I was built for the lab room, my friend." Ryan collected the ball then approached Seth. They stood in silence for a few seconds, Ryan waited for Seth to break it as he customarily did but this did not occur. Silence with Seth was uncomfortable for Ryan now, it just was not natural.

"So, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that my secret calling all along had been football, huh?" Ryan laughed and shook his head, but gestured his hands for Seth to continue. He knew what he had meant. "Well, what should I think about all of this?"

"I can't say I know what you're going through, but it must be hard."

"I prefer not thinking about it," Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out his sunglasses. He fixed his attention on the shoreline. "As soon as I think about it I get mad, I'm tired of being mad." Ryan nodded in understanding and turned to face the shoreline as well. The surfers cruised through the waves with articulate ease, people splashed around in the water and crashed into the waves. Who knew such a calming setting could provide the template for such a sticky situation. "Enough about me, what's been going on with you?"

"Seth Cohen?" the boys turned on a whim to the direction of the voice and found a small blonde, Anna Stern.

"Hey, Anna." Ryan announced, he had a strange feeling Seth had forgotten her name again. Sure enough, he looked over and saw Seth shot him a knowing look.

"What are you boys up to?"

"Oh you know, playing some good old American football." Seth attempted to steal the ball away from Ryan's grasp but to no avail, his grip on the ball was solid. Attempt number #1 to impress had failed for Seth. Anna just laughed and shifted her sunglasses up to her forehead. "Ahh, what are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking."

"Family from Pittsburgh flew down so we decided to take them to the beach for the day." Anna seemed distant, and so she should. In fact, Seth was shocked that she was even speaking to him. He had treated her like shit; in his pursuit to win Summer's affections, he had stomped all over Anna in the process. He was so fixated on Summer that he was unaware of this; guilt instantly seeped through him at the thought. That just wasn't him, he never acted like this, but I guess people do the strangest things for love.

"Oh, well that sounds fun." Seth was keeping the chat light, there were far too many Sterns at the beach for him to drag up his past behaviour and try to apologize for it. Worst case scenario, it would stir up her old hatred, and he pictured the result as him running down the beach strip with thousands of Sterns in hot pursuit…exaggeration, of course but you get the gist of it.

"Hey, you want to swing by and hang with me?" she looked down at her shoes and avoided his gaze. "Everyone's just telling stories I've heard millions of times and it would be nice to have some company." Seth awkwardly looked between Anna and Ryan. Was this a date or a friendly hangout?

"Sure, that sounds good." He looked at Ryan again, then back to Anna. "Well, can Ryan come too?"

"Of course! I'm sorry, I should've made it clear. You're both welcome." Seth shifted his gaze to Ryan and tried to telepathically indicate to him that he needed him there. But in typical Ryan fashion, he knew alternative plans were on the horizon.

"Thanks for the invite but I promised Marissa I would help her out with her Prom preparations." Anna began rambling about her dress she had picked out and how she had been counting down the days until Prom. Anna said her good-bye then stepped back so Ryan and Seth could say their good-byes

"Of course you have plans with Marissa, it never fails."

"Actually I just didn't want to go. I'm done third-wheeling with you and your women." he whispered which caused Seth to laugh. "See you at the house." In an instant, Ryan turned and began trudging back to the pier. Anna rejoined Seth at his side as watched Ryan walk away.

"So, Mr. Cohen…what do you say we try this again?" Seth wasn't sure if they were on the same wave length. But he agreed, it couldn't hurt.

Mrs. Stern, I would love to." he smiled at her, and she smiled right back. Seth was taken back by how pretty she truly was. She grabbed his hand and began to lead him back deeper into the beach toward where the rest of her family were. Maybe, he had had something special all along and just couldn't see it…

* * *

"Go away, I don't want to see anyone." the knocking on her door persisted and enraged Summer. Whoever was keeping this up must've had a death wish. Maybe it was Seth? Summer got excited at the thought and rushed to the door, swinging it open. Her smile dropped quickly when she saw who it was: Justin. "Oh." the boys previous smile had fallen as well when she answered the door. He stood there holding a single flower pedal, she looked at him confusedly. "What do you want?"

"Hey Summer," he was very quiet, very un-Justin like. "Could I step in for a minute?" she reluctantly stepped aside and allowed him inside. However, he didn't walk in far and remained by the door. "So listen, I know I haven't been the greatest person lately…"she laughed and shook her head. " And there is no excuse for the way I've treated you, and I know that our relationship has never really been the talkative type…but I want you to know that I really do care about you…a lot actually." Summer broke into a small smile, she couldn't help it. "And well, you see I was at the mall today and you know the Mr. Kelly's flower shop at South Coast?" she nodded her head. "Well, I found this on the floor just outside of his shop."

"Eww, if you think I want it you've got another thing coming." she shooed the pedal away from her, yet he never had offered it to her.

"I know this isn't for you, its for me. It reminded me of you."

"…oh my, how romantic." she couldn't help but be sarcastic with him. She was trying to peel through this new act of his that he had going on. Romantic Justin just did not exist. He shook her words off and continued.

"I know it seems weird, but I couldn't help but think of you when I saw it." he smiled sheepishly to himself. " Something as beautiful as this pedal, once belonged to a beautiful flower not long ago. And yet, here it was stomped on, kicked around…" he paused and looked at her. "Beautiful things do not deserve that Summer, and this is how I've treated you…" Summer was speechless. "Jeez, look at me…I sound ridiculous huh?" he smiled and shook his head. Summer was froze by the door, trying to look at Justin in the same light which she had held Seth. She had never seen this side of Justin before, it was shocking. "Well, that's all I wanted to say…thanks hearing me out." he began to move toward the door but was stopped by Summer's hand tugging on his wrist. Her eyes were teary from his words and she smiled at him, for the first time in a long while.

"Want to stay for awhile? Its lonely here." he smiled at her and nodded, finally entering fully into the room as she closed the door behind him.

**2 years later I update. Hello again, I actually had to re-read this whole thing to get familiar with it again, which took like 2 weeks haha…but sure enough I did it, and here's this chapter. I'm sure it wasn't what I had planned 2 years ago lol, but I had to do this to set-up my new vision for the remaining final few chapters.**

** For those that have read my stories all this time thanks and I hope you enjoyed them. **

**It would be nice to get some reviews, and criticism is always fine, constructive or not. I want to hear what you think. Anyways, thank you once again and I hope you enjoyed this.**


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